The Scared God [ManXManXMan]

Chapter Four: Пленный - Plennyy

{WARNING: Talk of death/dying.}

~Chapter Four: Пленный - Plennyy~

When no reply is given in return to Hors' greeting, he glances up from the pot he is stirring to look between us. I am not sure what he sees, but it makes him shake his head and refocus on the food. "Veles has questions for you," Hors informs his paler, blond, and bearded boyfriend, who only just now glances his way; Perun's attention has been on me from the moment he walked through the kitchen doorway.

I knew it; Hors had planned to turn me over to Perun from the moment he brought me here.

A sharp, piercing feeling shoots through my chest before something cold and unforgiving settles in its place. "You took your time," I comment flippantly, trying to shove down the growing fury. If I let myself become angry, I will likely try to lash out physical, which would just be embarrassing. Perun is a warrior god; a magic god without magic cannot do much to someone who specializes in physical prowess.

Perun's brow furrows a little and his blue eyes narrow slightly, but his conflicted expression otherwise does not change. "I was in the middle of something I couldn't leave, unfortunately," he replies, not quite dismissive of the reason, but not willingly to go into detail either. He takes a step forward and I just barely keep myself from echoing it in the opposite direction. "Hors told me about your magic."

My gaze darts over to Hors before I can think better of it. He is either ignoring us or pretending to, though, since he does not even glance up from the food. "Come to gloat, have you?" I ask coolly, looking back at Perun and fixing him with a glare. His brow furrows further and he actually looks...unhappy, his mouth tightening.

Worried I will not be making this easy, most likely, I consider spitefully.

"There's nothing to gloat about," Perun replies, walking towards me. I do not fight the instinct this time and take a step back, which makes me painfully aware of how close the wall is to my back. Something hot and overwhelming - terror - wells up in my chest and tries to suffocate me from the inside.

"Perun," Hors suddenly snaps, whipping around and actually throwing the wooden mixing spoon between Perun and myself when the king god reaches for me. It hits the wall, just barely missing his hand, and then the floor with a clatter, sending liquid and food bits flying everywhere, including Perun's scruff beard. "Stop right there. Remember what Osiris said."

The Egyptian?

No matter the reason for Osiris' involvement in this conversation, the randomness of the flying spoon and the fact that Perun has frozen mid-step is enough to shock me into gaining a foothold in my fear, giving me a chance to pull myself out of it. The terror still lingers, but I am not longer drowning. I take a deep breath, almost missing the rage I felt mere seconds ago.

"Can we just get this over with?" I demand, weariness slowly replacing the dissipating fear. It was bad luck turning up in this dimension, where Hors could so easily find me, but perhaps I will have better luck next time and revive somewhere untraceable.

For a moment, both of the other gods look confused. However, Hors seems to catch on first and he glances at Perun, expression unreadable. Perun realizes my meaning a couple of seconds later and exchanges a look with his boyfriend, who jerks his head towards me.

Does Hors want us to take this outside, then?

Before I can even take a step in the direction of the back door behind me, though, Perun asks, "How can I prove that I'm not going to kill you, Veles?"

The fact that he would even ask me that makes me wonder if he is a bigger idiot than I thought. That, or he thinks me to be the idiot. My immediate response is to tell him he cannot, but I make myself pause for a moment rather than just blurting it out. After a second, I decide to just play along to see how far he is willing to take this ruse of his. "If you aren't going to kill me right now, can I leave?"