Queen's note: oof, I wrote a lot of this in the waiting room of the vet. You might get some wolfy cuddles, we just lost one of our dogs here.

Garnets

Chapter Thirty Two:

Omelette

"I can eat solid foods." The Argenta woman noted as she looked at the bowl she was given.

Lily gave her a flat look back from where she was standing on her stool to reach the counters and stove better. "Vega said you need something softer than eggs. You do what Vega says. You already got the pills down he made for you, to have good bacteria in your gut again, and that will help with terra-earth made food too. So."

A spatula was pointed at the much bigger woman, "Listen to Vega. There's some seasoning on that oatmeal and a little brown sugar, so it's not too bland. Once you're cleared I'll make you something more solid."

Lily was already thinking about making some fish chowder. Granted it was powdered milk that they had now but some doctoring should help.

A low warning growl came from Lily's right, on the other side of the Argenta. The woman shifted and thought better about pushing the subject. Looking down at the bowl, still feeling a bit disappointed, as it did not look all that appetizing. Soft, textured with odd red dust and the small sad spoonful of sweetener. Mila turned to glance at her king, but only got a flat look back as he fished dishing some more oatmeal into the last bowls for the other awake Sentinels, Lord Valen and himself.

Lily had returned to caramelizing the minced vegetables that were pulled from the freezer.

Mila was mildly put out that the Slayer was free to add a scoop of what looked like mixed nuts and fruit bits into his bowl with no protests. She knew better than to comment though, as Mila mixed her sad bowl and moved to where her brothers were sitting and drinking water. Taking one of the offered additional bowls for them as Lord Valen came in for his and the other bowl.

Sitting at the table with the other Argenta, Mila found she could see her King moving to lean his back against the other side of the stove to watch what the small human was doing.

Young human?

Mila faintly remembered her King mentioning he was on the taller side for humans, when he still spoke. Only now did she really wonder about that. She could see the oddly soft look on his face, not unlike the looks he would give the youngest apprentices.

It was when the Slayer King gave a lopsided smile at whatever was said that had Mila pausing as she was about to take the first bit.

That was not just affection for the young, or quite like the fondness he had for his Sentinels. Or personal guards, even the aids he used to have outside of the war with Hell.

Mila was proud to be considered one of the warriors that her Lord claimed as his. Even before she was separated from him. That was a small human that they were ordered to protect.

Her King, the outlander was or had been human. Had been missing for some time before the confirmation of him being trapped in hell. That was before her unit had to fall back to the Fortress.

Did…

Did he…?

Mila took a slow bite of her 'oatmeal,' barely noticing at first of the oddly present taste.

Lord Valen had mentioned it was Lily that found the surviving Sentinels, but Mila had made sure only someone with a powerful wraith gift or the Slayer himself could get into the King's Retreat. The human only had a little of Lord Valen's shard gift. She was clearly not a warrior by any stretch either, she would need any amount of power passed from…

From…

In the kitchen, Lily was moving the pan aside and reaching for the bowl of tiny finger sized eggs Mila had seen. Before starting the next batch of cooking she was clearly pleading up at the Slayer with no shame and definitely in a familiar way. Mila watched her King roll his eyes and despite that he was only half done with his food, offered the bowl.

The Slayer was willingly sharing his food? The same demigod that would stab anyone with the nearest utensil that tried to take food from him, even (especially) in the pits?

He just surrendered the bowl for Lily to take some bites and give it back. Going back to eating himself and watching the smaller human cooking again as if nothing happened.

Mila carefully set her spoon down, staring pointed at her bowl as her mind turned over things. Waiting until Lord Valen left back into the kitchen for his own food before she spoke in the lowest, softest voice to her brother Sentinels so not to be overhead. "Did…our king… finally have …an heir?"

The shield barrier paused mid bite, as the other heavy almost choked.

"Don't be stupid over there." Valen's voice rose as he paused in the kitchen to look back. "Eat. Slowly."

The heavy coughed, and carefully took sips of his water. "Yes Lord Valen."

There were some odd moments of quiet, Valen thankfully not coming back out in that time.

The shield barrier turned his head to stare at Mila with wide eyes. Daring to whisper back while it was safe. "What are you talking about Captain?"

"Is our King really one to pay attention to a random civilian… and share his energy with? Let alone his food?" Mila asked back in a low voice. The other two stared at her in shock, not daring to look over just yet. But having to think about that.

"Rai, you have the best sensitivity to energy not wraith made… can you check?" The heavy asked after a few moments. "I only picked up on the wraith gift Lord Valen shared with her."

The youngest of the three Sentinels considered that, thinking about what he had partly picked up in the brief meeting before Rai was told to sit before he fell. "I sensed something odd, but I've never met another… human other than our King? I can try, Haco."

The older warrior nodded, looking down at his bowl and taking a careful, and slightly smaller bite. Eyeing their captain as if expecting another world shaking statement. When she seemed to be just lost in thought he turned his full attention back to the bowl. Unlike Mila and Rai he was perfectly happy with the food as soon as it was put in front of him. His stomach did not feel the best since waking up, and Haco was grateful for something light and soft that stayed down easily.

Rai was the first to finish his food, sitting for a minute as he focused on sipping water. If nothing else he was good at taking care of himself, and knew not to overdo it despite there being several bites left in his bowl. The unaltered Argenta got up quietly, padding over to the kitchen.

At the questioning look from Lord Valen, Ria looked guilty, "I could not finish the meal. But thank you for it, it was oddly pleasant."

"Your stomach likely is smaller from the sarcophagus," Valen said, taking the bowl and finishing it in three bites. The immortal offered the bowl back, and Ria was a bit surprised at the fond look he got, "Go clean up your dish young Night."

Ria started to do just that, but was grabbed as he walked past the other two. Starting to dip his head to the Slayer before his king grabbed the back of his neck firmly, but not hurting. Hauling the surprised Ria over to him with one hand, the empty bowl set aside as the Slayer stood up.

Despite being the same size, Ria felt like he was loomed over, as he turned one way then the other while being inspected. The youngest Sentinel was very aware that he had lost some mass in stasis, as he did not have as much wraith or Argent energy as the older members of his former platoon.

Silver-blue eyes were wide, but Ria did not resist. The odd warmth that came from the Slayer's hands was… comforting as he was inspected.

"Hmm," the Slayer frowned, looking more through Ria then at. He glanced to Valen and freed a hand to sign something.

"I noticed it too," Valen agreed as he looked over. "Let him recover before trying anything."

The demigod turned his attention back to Ria, signing with both hands.

The young Sentinel looked ashamed, as could not understand what was said. "I'm sorry my Lord, I was only just starting to learn the silent language before Stasis."

Meaning it was one of his memories effected.

"John asked what happened to your…wraith gift?" Lily spoke up, having been keeping an eye on things.

"I and my shield brother, we sacrificed most of our gifts to make the barrier Captain Mila made." Ria said, looking surprised at the accident but was able to tell the girl was fluent in Argenta. "I was never given either Argent energy, or much of the refined Sentinel energy, so I will not have the resistance of senior Sentinels."

The Slayer frowned, and there was a faint tingle under the hands on Ria's shoulders.

"Leave him be," Lord Valen said firmly, glaring from his spot. "Let the boy recover from his time in stasis before trying anything. Some things just need time to heal."

"Yeah," Lily agreed, and then seemed to pointedly tap her right shoulder, "Even this took nearly a month to heal, and that was considered fast."

The demigod made a face, but released Ria and nudged him. Clear permission to go back to what he was doing. The young Sentinel looked confused, but walked over to finish with cleaning his dishes and then get another cup of water. Despite the tiredness coming up on him, Ria let him stare at the counter as he thought about what he sensed.

He was not sure if all humans had some sort of reflection of energy naturally. Yet Ria had distinctly felt more than just 'trances' of the Slayer King's distinct energy mixed in with her. Add to the fact that Lord Valen had admitted he was brought to the fortress to be told to protect the human already at the Fortress. The young Sentinel smiled to himself, making sure to stick his cup into his face to drink and hide the smile. Ria at least giving himself a few moments to collect himself.

Ria wished that he could grab the older critics on Argent Dn'ur, who always made sure the Slayer King was off world to slander him. Making claims he could never make an heir. Just shove their faces in the dirt at his King's feet to grovel for forgiveness.

Maybe he still could.

…after a nap.

Ria almost fell asleep standing up and dropping his glass. The young man carefully set it down and backed up, shaking his head. Turning he asked on autopilot, "May I be dismissed to the sleeping quarters?"

Lord Valen was almost over to him, having been watching the body language. "Boy, I'm not sure if you can make it over there. Come with me."

"...yes sir…"

Lily shifted on her stool, watching with some worry as Valen led the other Sentinel out of the Kitchen. Peering after and then out to where the other two were. She turned back to John beside her. "Are the other two going to do that?"

John frowned, making a face as he realized the likelihood of that, glancing to the stove, and back out the window to note the heave fighter was just barely staying up in his chair. "Hmm…"

"Are you going to help your Sentinels?" Lily asked as she mixed the vegetables into the bowl of whisked eggs. "I'll have your omelet ready by the time you get back."

The big guy gave a deep breath, and then snorted as he got up, leaving his bowl beside Valen's to deal with when he was back. Both were empty and once Lily was alone, Valen coming back for Mila, she had a chance to go gather all the dishes.

Lily was overall pleased that she had estimated just the right amount of eggs. Two larger omelets and one distinctly smaller. Lily did not need nearly as much food, and she had a little of that block of shelf stable cheese on her and John's eggs. Leaving Valen's alone as she was not sure if he could have cheese.

It was not until she was sitting at the nearest table to the kitchen with their plates when the thought hit her. Could John have cheese?

"No wait, he killed off the dinner that time." Lily said to herself, remembering John having eaten the mac and cheese and seemed happy. Sighing at the moment of mild panic passing, Lily sipped some water and waited. Able to see when John came back.

The guy was still wholly unfair as he made almost no sound in his full stride. At least John had found one of his sleeveless shirts now, Lily took that as a good sign that he was feeling better from yesterday.

The Demigod sat down, making a low, happily grumbling as he took the slightly bigger omelet that had the now melted cheese on it. It took until John was half done before he sat up, clearly savoring the treat but suddenly remembered to drink something. His body reminded him it had been at least two days since he drank anything.

A big hand reached towards Lily, tapping the table for her attention, and he empathized the signed words. Good. good. Soft tasty. Good.

Lily beamed despite herself, "I'm glad you like it. I was worried I lost my touch for cooking them."

Learned from dad, or mom? John asked, again taking his time with the treat. Glad he got up now, though I would be happy to go back into a lazy sprawl later.

"Mom could make great casseroles, but claimed she couldn't make breakfast unless oatmeal or cereal. So dad taught me…" Lily trailed off as she realized for the first time that both of her parents had been good at cooking. They turned it into family bonding time, like fishing or crabbing trips were.

Her mother had always been fully capable of cooking breakfast foods. Just as her dad was able to make desserts. Lily loved making breakfast foods just with her dad as much as just making cupcakes with her mom only.

"...I think I just realized how much my parents loved each other."

Good thing? John tilted his head with a, "Hmm?"

"Yeah, good thing," Lily smiled down at her plate. And then thought of the last two cupcakes that were in the freezer. Getting up at a sunned thought. "Oh, wait here, have a stupid idea."

The demigod turned partly to watch Lily dart back into the kitchen. John made sure she was alright before turning back to the table, and reached for the cup of water at Valen's spot. He was just finishing his own plate and eyeing the other when Valen came back.

The older warrior squinted as he came over. Seeing the cup already taken before picking up the plate and moving a few chairs away. "No."

"Mm?" The Slayer grinned as he leaned that way, but before he could start anything, Lily was back. She put one of the cupcakes on the mostly empty plate, drawing John's attention away from Valen.

"I want you to have that." Lily said as she put the other cupcake on her plate and climbed back up to her chair, as it had a cushion on it so she was not so short. "Just… it'll make me feel better."

She made those cupcakes on the day he had found her, on her Dad's birthday. For some strange reason with her dad now being a living sword… a crucible that would stay mostly by the Slayer and feed off his energy? Lily found that sharing one of the two last birthday cupcakes with John made her feel better. It was not exactly like sharing it with her dad, but sort of was.

"Mmm…" John made a low, pleased rumbling sound as he took a bite of the cold cake. Finding it was a spiced cake with cream cheese frosting. Bringing something faint from the far back of his memories. Not a true memory but more remembering he used to have and like something to this. Good. Good.

Lily smiled as she looked at her plate. She did feel better over all today.

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Jordan213123: It's not all action, but defiantly lots of feels. I'm so happy you like my silly story!