Part of Them

Part 43

Rosen’s POV

As I sat foot on the paved streets again, I looked into the direction I saw Grimm disappearing in earlier. But there was no shadowy figure approaching yet. Hmm, now that I think about it - isn’t the store normally closed in the middle of the night?

As I started walking in the direction that I knew where Grimm was because his scent lingered in the air, I saw him turning the corner with two big grocery bags in his hands. So he must’ve gotten ahold of some cookies. But where?

Waiting for him to finally make it to me, I averted my eyes to my hands. Now that I looked at it, the jar held some content. I don’t know why that seemed surprising to me, but oh well. I should probably empty it.

Opening the jar and letting the contents fall to the floor, I noticed a ton of greenery and dirt falling out. What the hell did they keep in there? Is that a small forgotten pet of theirs? Did a cockroach live there?

Shrugging it off and shaking the dirt that had fallen on my right shoe off, I turned back to Grimm, who had by now made it to me.

“Was the store still open?” I asked him.

“Yeah, lucky me. It's a 24/7 store nowadays. I had to wake the dude behind the register up. I’m never going to understand why they upgraded such a small store in the middle of nowhere to something like that. It just doesn’t seem efficient, you know?” He told me.

“Huh, I guess time really does fly by. Some things have changed a lot lately,” I complained openly. Adjusting to change was annoying most of the time, but in this case, I guess it was a change for the better. At least it was easy to get a hold of some cookies in the dead of the night. Might be really useful in the future when you get the munchies.

“Well, I don’t really care. Our residences are like time capsules. We even still have horses, though we technically don’t need them. I think that’s proof enough that we’re a bit old-fashioned,” Grimm explained, turning his head to absorb the small village again. 

“I don’t think this is the most modern place either though, to be honest,” I commented. 

“True,” He nodded. 

And with that, we started our journey back to our current residence. 

Once we were back home at the gates, a new challenge presented itself.

“How are we going to sneak this past Alerus? He’s not going to allow us to take all of this up to Faer!” I exclaimed, worry lacing my voice.

 

Grimm looked at me as if I was absolutely ridiculous.

“Are you an idiot? We’re not gonna throw bags of cookies and a dirty jar at Faer! We need to unpack a few cookies, wash out the jar and fill some into it. And then you can easily sneak it up behind your back,” He exclaimed, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, right. But Alerus is going to smell this from a mile away, isn’t he?” I asked nervously.

“Oh for ffucks sake, Rosen. Man up. He’s not gonna behead you if you get caught. Make up a valid excuse as to why you think cookies will help Faer’s state,” He shot back. 

He’s right, I’ve got to man up properly for my little brother.

Standing a little bit more upright, I let out a small breath.

“You’re right. Let’s go then,” I said more to myself than to Grimm.

“Such a wimp…” I heard Grimm mutter quietly.

With one last glare in his direction, I followed his instructions

~~

“Now doesn’t this look neat?” I asked him, proud of my work. I had washed the glass out completely and filled it to the brim with Grimm’s chocolate chip cookies.

“Mhmm,” Said male grunted back, seeming distracted.

That idiot is always thinking. Can’t he be normal for just a day?

While I was proudly assessing my jar, Rei stepped into the room. I turned my head in his direction.

“What is that smell? Is that a replica of our old cookie jar there?” He asked, lifting an eyebrow up suspiciously.

“What if it is? It’s going to cheer our little brother up, and besides, he requested that I sneak it up to him himself,” I defended myself.

“Woah there, chef. It’s not like I was going to confiscate it immediately,” He put his hands up in defense. “But don’t you think it’s a bit unhealthy for him? He’s on a strict blood diet for a reason. Imagine him having long-lasting health issues with his back.”

I helplessly looked over to Grimm, who was staring intently at the ground. I guess I can’t expect any help fro- 

“You know, from a psychological point of view, it’s way more efficient to heal wounds in a content and happy state. He’s going to be unhappy if we deny his wish to eat normal food, isn’t he?” He looked up at Rei, daring him to defy him.

“You always make me question my authority, Grimm. I don’t think I like that,” He stated, looking Grimm in the eyes intently. The guy just shrugged it off.

It was better to not pick a fight with Rei, that’s as clear as daylight to anybody. He was the strongest of us all. A really intimidating man. It’s kind of funny though, how he took over the role of the mother hen.

Deciding that it was best to just bring the jar up to Faer really quickly without making a fuss in front of my brothers, I slipped past the two idiots and made my way up the stairs.

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Quick question: How many chapters would you guys like this book to have? The main storyline is already over, I'm just going for some cute ending scenes now. Should I do around 50 chapters? Mind you, once this book is finished I will probably start working on another one right away (any suggestions are welcome).