The Scared God [ManXManXMan]

Chapter Twenty-seven: Попутчик - Poputchik

~Chapter Twenty-seven: Попутчик – Poputchik~

Perun returns to work the next morning. Or, at least, he did return to work, as it is only an hour after he left that I hear the front door open from the couch in the living room. Since I only just got comfortable and do not want to move more than necessary, I do not sit up and instead tilt my head backwards over the arm of the couch. This allows me to watch as Perun walks past the living room doorway, only to reappear a second later. And judging by the look on his face when he sees me, he is not here for Hors.

This can't be good.

Heeding the sudden flutter of anxiety in my chest, I quickly sit up, closing my book and tossing it gently onto the table, as Perun enters the living room. "What?" I ask warily, weighing the pros and cons of staying seated. Though I know now that he is not going to attack me, old habits die hard, and I cannot help but consider which position has the better battle advantage.

"A Greek stopped by my office to request an audience this morning," Perun comments, and it sounds almost nonchalant, but his face says otherwise, which is no surprise.

Who would be casual about seeing a Greek god when we are at war with them?

My brow furrows, as it should not be possible for the Greeks to enter the heavens and surprise Perun. Even if we were not at war with Zeus, gods from other pantheons have to be brought in by someone in order to enter, or they need a standing invitation like...

Like the messenger gods...fuck.

Considering the fact that Perun decided to come all the way to tell me this, which can only mean one thing, there is no point in playing dumb. "What did Hermes want?" I ask, pinching the bridge of my nose and leaning back into the couch cushions. The Greek messenger god had said he would return in five days to hear my decision, but with all that has been going on and since he never showed up again, I completely dismissed any and all thought of his offer. Clearly, I should not have.

"He claimed he could not find you in any of the known realms and asked if I might have an idea of where to find you," Perun says, his face softening a little when he realizes I am not going to try to pretend I know nothing of what is going on. "When I asked him why, Hermes merely said you had some unfinished business and refused to elaborate. Want to explain?"

"Not really," I admit grudgingly, but I am already thinking of how best to explain something as delicate as this. I mean, it is bad enough that I did not tell him when I revived or a few days later, since I could have used poor health as an excuse for a faulty memory. And, I mean, while I did not fully trust him even after I was feeling better, trust or not, it was still important information on a potential war ally that I knowingly withheld.

Perun raises an eyebrow at me when I say nothing more. "But are you going to?"

"While in Iriy, Hermes approached me," I start, sighing. "He wanted to know if I would be willing to start an alliance – with him, not Zeus – to take down his father."

The king god interrupts me, startled, "Messenger gods can't form alliances."

"Apparently, they can," I disagree, with no small amount of bitterness, as I had thought the same thing not too long ago.

There really needs to be a magical oath of neutrality or something...

Perun pales drastically and sits down next to me on the couch, his side flush against mine, which I accept just this once since he is clearly experiencing some sort of shock. Either he understands how it is possible or he just trusts me to not be lying about something like this, as he does not try to refute what I said. Before I can continue, though, Hors walks in with a tray of steaming mugs, and he silently forces us each to take one before sitting down in one of the chairs across from us. I stare at the sun god for a moment, not really sure if I should continue or start over for Hors' sake, but the sun god merely gestures for me to go on, so, after a moment of hesitation, I do.