Aldebaran wasted no time in skinning the boar and putting it up on a spit, all the way explaining gleefully to Aioros every step he took.
"And once the skin is dry, you can leave it in front of the fireplace. It's good to catch sparks and extinguish them" he was saying, adjusting the heat of the grill in the backyard.
Aioros listened intently, crouching next to the grill.
Shura watched them from inside the Taurus residence. He had a very vague recollection of what exactly had happened during the last few hours, but he didn't care. He didn't care at all.
He went to the table to try and serve himself some water, but he ended up pouring it all over the floor. His hands couldn't stop shaking.
"What is wrong with you?!" asked Aphrodite, snatching the jug and glass from Shura's hands. "You look like a goddamn zombie. And your message made no sense. You kissed a boar? What even-? Are you drunk or something?"
"He kissed me"
"The boar?"
"No! Aioros!"
Aphrodite gasped. "What?!"
"This morning. He just…He just did. He's been pretending he didn't know what I felt for him, but he knew. He knew it better than I did. He knew it all the time and he just kissed me."
Aphrodite sat him down in a couch and brought him a cup of coffee.
"Ok, breathe, are you really sure-?"
"Completely sure. One hundred percent. He said it."
Aphrodite patted his hand. "Yes, but he also says a lot of weird shit and he just brought you a dead boar. Like a cat or something. Like a goddamn cat," he said, then grabbed Shura's face with both hands. "Look at me. Keep calm, and make sure he is in his right mind first. Are you listening to me? Shura? Are you listening?"
"Is he ok?" asked Aioros, making them both jump. Shura almost spilled his entire coffee cup all over himself.
"He's fine," said Aphrodite, letting go of Shura. "Aioria come get your brother."
Aioria sauntered over and Aioros turned towards him. "Shura's not feeling right, maybe I should bring him to the house of Capricorn," he said.
Hearing this, Shura snapped out of his daze. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm just tired and Aphrodite got me some coffee."
Aioria, for once in his life sensing the mood, pulled Aioros away and took him back out to the yard.
"Well, that was spooky," said Aphrodite. "He didn't have that weird, intense stare when he was a kid."
"I know," said Shura, and took a sip from his coffee.
"Is it like, that whole being-dead-for-too-long thing, or is…?"
"I don't know."
"Is his soul still going out of his body and hanging around and shit?"
"I think so. Athena said it might last years"
"Years? Good gods. And you still love him?"
Shura sighed. "I don't think I could stop loving him. Even when he starts hating me, I think I'll still love him."
Aphrodite stared at him. "What…why would he…?"
"I had sex with Aioria"
Aphrodite covered his face. "No. No, you didn't. Oh, Gods in Olympus. And here I thought I made wrong decisions. When?"
"Years ago. Remember the first party you threw at your-"
Aphrodite held up a hand. "I know. I remember," he said, and stared at Shura again, searching for the rest of the story in his eyes, piecing everything that had happened in his mind. "Gods almighty, what have you done?...It wasn't just sex, right?. It was punishment. That's why you've been going insane now that he's back, isn't it?"
Shura slouched. "He'll hate me. He kissed me and now he'll hate me forever."
They both looked out at the yard where Aioros and Aioria were chatting with Aldebaran.
"Who knows? He just might, or he might not. He's the only one who knows what forever looks like."