When I return home, my stomach lets out a fierce rumble. With a sigh of relief knowing my appetite is back I head into my kitchen and start going through the fridge and cupboards.
"What to have…what to have…" I chant to myself.
After searching far and wide throughout my little kitchen, what lays before me on my counter top is a pack of raw ground beef, and tomato.
"I guess I could run to the convenience store and pick up some pasta…"
But then there's the chance of HIM calling on me. Ugh.
"All right…" I saw clapping my hands together. "I guess its just meatballs and tomato sauce."
As I prepare my 'feast' of a meal my mind wonders as I say my thoughts out loud.
"How much you want to bet the jerk is going to call me any second now." I say, balling up the ground beef in my hands and throwing them down on a pan, irritated.
I clear my throat and do the worst Leon impression possible. "Hey, goldfish, fluff my pillows, move that chair an inch to the left." I finish the meatballs and throw them in the oven, then start preparing the tomato sauce. "And while you're at it do up the buttons on my uniform because a God such as myself can't handle a task as simple as that."
Before I realize it, the preparation and the making of my food is complete. I stand in my kitchen, keeping an eye on the meatballs slowly cooking in the oven and casually stirring the sauce on the stove. However, angry thoughts of Leon come crawling back and my appetite starts to fade.
"I need to go clear my head." I turn down the heat on the meatballs and sauce. and go to my bathroom.
As the door closes behind me a strong ringing sound echoes in my head.
"Ugh! Really?!" I yell, covering my ears with my hands. "I am going to take a shower and then I'm going to enjoy my meal! So, cut it out!"
Then, the ringing stopped.
With a frustrated grunt, I strip down and hop in the shower. The hot streams of water hit my face, as the droplets roll off my face and down the rest of my body until the drain swallows the water along with all my questions and thoughts. As much as I would choose to live in the shower I eventually climb out and wrap a towel around me. Using my hand to wipe the mirror clear, I hear a door slam.
My head whips around to the door as heavy footsteps draw near. My instinct is to grab a weapon to defend myself with, but unfortunately my choices of weapons ranges from a bar of soap to a toothbrush. But before I know it my bathroom door swings open.
Leon, arrogantly stands in the doorway.
"What the hell? L-Leon?!" I yell.
Displeased, he says, "You dare keep me waiting?" He crosses his arms. "When I call, you come running."
"Are you kidding me? I thought you were an intruder…but I at this point I rather have it be an intruder." I mumble the last part.
"You better watch your tongue goldfish?" Leon inches closer to me.
I let out a laugh. "Seriously? Can't you see I'm just a bit busy?"
Leon's eyes scan me from head to toe as in amusement.
Realizing at the fact that I'm butt naked with only a thin towel hugging my body, I take a step back only to feel my backside hit the edge of the sink. My hands move to the upper hem of my towel to secure it. "W-w-well you have no right to just barge in here!"
Leon rolls his eyes. "Whatever you were doing it doesn't concern me."
"What do you want, Leon? I just saw you over an hour ago. What is so important?"
"You need to come with me now. I suggest you hurry up and get dressed."
I briskly walk pass Leon. "Sorry, no can do, as I said before, I'm a bit busy."
Leon follows close behind me. "Excuse me?"
I don't bother responding to Leon as I make my way to my kitchen. I turn off the oven and take out the meatballs, placing them on the island in front of Leon.
A sudden curious Leon stares at the pan of balled meat. "What's that?"
I give a weird look. "Uh…meatballs?"
Leon laughs, and my eyes widen at the sight of Leon laughing. Not like any of the ignorant and rude laughs he's revealed before.
I let out a short chuckle. "Oh what, a god such as yourself has never had a meatball."
Leon returns to his prideful expression. "Can't say I have, because gods don't require food."
"What?" I lean over the island in surprise.
"We gods only eat for fun, sometimes."
"Okay, fine." I grab a fork to stick it in one of the meatballs then dip it in the sauce. I hold it out for Leon.
"Are you serious?" He smiles devilishly.
I shrug, while still holding out the fork with the meatball. "Eat this for fun then."
"Pfftt…you're pretty confident."
I move the fork closer to Leon, my eyes locking to his.
For a moment Leon scrutinizes the meatball, as if it's something very unusual. He leans in and bites the meatball off the fork.
I'm taken aback by the sudden action and I can feel my cheeks slightly become warm. I step back, "So, how is it?" I ask.
Leon swallows, then looks at the rest of the pan of meatballs in surprise. "…not bad."
I cross my arms and look at Leon full of pride and confidence. "Really?"
He returns is usual smile. "I've never tasted anything like this before. It doesn't displease me."
I smile, and I slowly realize that I'm still standing in only a bath towel. "Oh my god!" I bolt to my room, slamming the door behind me.
From the other side of the door I hear Leon speak. "I suggest you hurry up, don't make me wait any longer than I already have. However, it would be entertaining to throw you out naked in front of others."
I scramble around finding articles of clothing to throw on. "I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying! Sheesh."
"Meet me at the mansion." He says, with the following of my front door closing shut.
I lastly throw my hoodie on and open my bedroom door with caution. "Couldn't have waited two more seconds?"
I stomp over to my front door and swing it open, walking into the mansion.
The fancy, rich interior of the mansion throws me off for a moment until my eyes lock with a intimidating glare from Leon.
"What? I'm here." I say.
Leon rolls his eyes. "I'll punish you later. Come. Now,"
P-punish me?! A scary thought comes to mind.
With an irritated expression Leon says, "If you had hurry up things wouldn't be so unbearably noisy."
I raise a confused eyebrow and scan the room to see Teorus and Huedhaut relaxing.
Huedhaut smirks. "I'm not the one who is being noisy, if you were going to ask."
Shocked as if he read my mind, I turn away with a grumble. "Well I wasn't."
Then, from the corner of my eye a little figure excitedly jumps out from behind Teorus and comes rushing over.
"Hello, Lady Abbey! Do you remember me?" The little girl with short brown hair takes my hand and shows me an innocent smile.
"Oh!" I kneel to be at her eye level. "Vega, wasn't it?"
She nods excitedly. "I'm so happy to see you again!"
"Likewise." I smile back, aweing at the adorable presence she brings.
"I hope you're not to angry with me for tricking you when we first met." Little droplets of tears form along her lower eyelids.
I shake my head. "Don't worry about it. Figured if it weren't for you and Altair to bring me here I would have six men barge into my apartment going on about all this god nonsense."
Vega laughs and I find myself patting her on the head.
"So, Vega, how are you involved with these guys?" I look around the room at the three gods.
Vega excitedly jumps. "Oh! I'm the assistant for the Department of Wishes."
"Okay, wait, Department of Wishes?" I question.
"That's right, I don't believe we discussed our jobs." Huedhaut props an arm on the armrest of the couch and rests the side of his face against his hand.
I stand up. "To be honest, I didn't think gods had jobs."
Leon cuts in, looking unhappy. "What did you think we did, laze around and do nothing?"
"Well, yeah?" I shrug. "But I guess it makes more sense as to why you would have stacks of paperwork in your room."
Teorus pats the couch. "Come sit and we can explain. Vega can you bring us some tea?"
"Of course! Be right back!" Vega skips out of the room.
I go and sit next to Teorus, keeping a fair distance between us.
Leon sits next to Huedhaut across from me, looking exhausted.
"So…the Department of Wishes?" I repeat.
"Yes, as Gods of the department of wishes it is our job to take of human wishes. Pretty self explanatory." Huedhaut says.
"Oh...interesting…" I nod, slowly understanding. "So, you can grant any wish a human asks for?"
"Well…" Teorus tilts his head with an uneasy look.
"It's more than just hearing out a human wish and granting it." Leon heckles.
Huedhaut nods. "Yes, we receive lists of human wishes. Were talking about humans all over the world."
Then, Vega returns with a trolley, with an elegant tea set. She begins to pour the tea and hand them out to each of us.
"Thank you." I kindly say, accepting the little teacup.
She smiles warmhearted. "Of course!"
Leon then continues to explain. "We go through each wish, and depending what the goldfish are wishing for we either approve or reject it."
"Well, that makes a bit more sense." I say while taking a sip of the delicious smelling tea.
Teorus sighs. "Then we write a report with the completed wishes or write any concerns or issues with any goldfish and wish."
"And speaking of your job, I was sent down here on behalf of Karno's orders." Vega chirps in.
"Karno?" I say.
Huedhaut speaks up. "He is the Vice-minister of the department. He's second to most powerful after Leon. He's Leon's right-hand man."
"Whoa, Vice-minister, right hand man? This is a lot more serious than it sounds to be." I say, taking another sip.
"So, why did Karno send you down here?" Leon turns to Vega.
"Well, it's been very difficult for the Department of Wishes to finish work ever since you all were exiled. There are a lot of jobs we just can't handle, especially when it comes to the jobs that only Leon can do." Vega begins to get very worked up as she speaks.
Teorus sets his cup down, preparing to pour more tea in his cup. "That's true. There is a lot of stuff we can't do without instructions from Leon."
"I can only imagine how this must be for Karno." Huedhaut smiles, but somehow doesn't reveal any sort of concern.
Leon shakes his head with a smirk. "If he wants to complain, tell him to complain to that trickster who sinned us in the first place."
"Leon, if we do the King will only get angry again!" Vega says desperately. "So, that's why I'm here with work orders from Karno." Vega quickly leaves the room for a moment then comes back in with a mountain, handing them to Leon.
Leon, looking very angry, glares at Vega.
"Y-you can make scary faces all you want, but I have to deliver these…"
"Hey, come on, Leon. She's only doing her job." I step in, shielding Vega from Leon's intense glare.
Leon letting out an exasperating sigh as e flips through the stacks of documents. "Whatever. So, my own. Vice-minister is giving me trouble too."
After a moment of silence, Leon looks up from the papers and darts to Teorus.
A startled Teorus nearly spits out his freshly poured tea. "Wh-what are you looking at me for?"
"You know exactly what." The one side of his mouth curls upward.
"Ooohh…you mean the wishes I've been granting." Teorus chuckles innocently.
I sit up straighter as I listen in. "What about the wishes you've been granting?"
No one replies right away, Leon continues to show off his signature glare then continues. "Since when did you become a god who grants only women's wishes?"
"S-sorry…" Teorus looks away and sinks into the couch hoping to disappear.
I sense the tension in the air, unlike before it was friendly and fun. But, I guess the vibe gets totally turned around when it comes to their job.
"Huedhaut, you never seem to change with your average record. The usual." Leon, flips to another document, nodding with approval.
"Hmm, yes, however…unfortunately with being exiled there are some issues I need to discuss with you, regarding whether I should grant certain human wishes or not. Such as this one here." Huedhaut takes a document, flipping through some documents and shows Leon.
Leon looks it over, completely focused. "That's right. We've had an issue with this human before."
I look from the document in Leon's hands to Leon. Curious as to what it is they are exactly talking about.
Teorus then cuts in, with a very serious expression that it catches me off guard. "Actually Leo, I was hoping for some direction about this other human as well."
Vega takes a breath of relief. "Good…now Lord Karno won't yell at me."
I look at Vega. "Well...I'm glad everything worked out."
She giggles. "Now with Lord Leon working again, a bunch of stuff will get done! Lord Leon is really strong, he can do sooo much more than the other gods!"
With a crooked smile, I reply. "You really look up to him, don't you?"
I don't hear her response as I face the others, I find a serious Leon hard at work, carefully giving direction to the other gods. And I can't help but think…
He's so different when he's working, and when he's with the other gods. He's a leader, someone to look up too. And I can respect that. However, yet when he's with me…he's a total jerk!
The voice of Vega brings me away from my thoughts.
"Lord Leon, when you're done looking over these papers, please grant the wishes. And don't try to slack off because I'll be watching!" She says cutely.
Leon groans. "What? Did Karno tell you to say that?"
Vega is frightened. "B-but you're a-always leaving your work unfinished…a-and going off somewhere."
As much as Leon is a respectable leader, I can see him as not being the dedicated type…As I keep that thought to myself, I let out a soft chuckle, as I feel like I got to know a little bit more about Leon.
Leon looks over at me and I shut up immediately.
He stands up and begins walking to the doors that lead to his room. "Tch. How annoying." Then stops as he opens the doors, and turns back at me. "What are you doing? Hurry up and get over here."
I remain seated. "Why?"
Leon's eyes go wide and innocent, looking awfully confused. "How am I supposed to use my powers without you?"
That's right he can't use his powers if he's not touching me. Damn this whole situation.
"Sorry, right behind you." I say standing up. I pat Vega on the head and wave to Teorus and Huedhaut. "Thanks for the tea, see you guys later." Then quickly follow behind Leon.
