Page 12 of Eight Embers

“I guess I just feel bad for him. He just got yanked out of his life and inserted into ours, no warning. Seems a bit harsh.”

August nods. “Yeah, I guess so. Plus, we all know each other already. If I were him, I'd probably be really uncomfortable here. Even if we're trying our best to be nice, it's just a weird situation.”

“We should feed him mashed potatoes. Then he'll be happy. Guaranteed.” Leo looks ready to go ransack the kitchen to find some. I have the suspicion he really just wants to eat more himself and is looking for an excuse to make them. Not that he needs one.

Rush is in the corner alone, twitching, and I've noticed that every time Leo talks, he’s completely tuned into him. I’m fascinated about what’s going on there as he mothers Leo some more. More blatantly than he has. “No, you must be overwhelmed too. You only just got out of your curse. How are you adjusting?”

Leo’s sort of like a little kid, but it seems like every hour he's able to talk amongst us and walk amongst us and participate inthings, he becomes a little bit more human-like. “I feel... moody. I don't like not knowing anything about who I was before. I mean, what sort of fellow was I? Honorable? Scumbag? Rich? I could have been anybody. Trying to figure out everything is frustrating because everything is so hazy. I don't even know how long I was out there,” he says as he motions to the window, shuddering as he does. “It feels like I’ve been frozen, and when Delaney moved in, time started moving forward again. I just wish I knew how much time I lost.”

Rush begins crawling across the living room, keeping his body posture rigid.

Leo cocks his head to the side and watches but doesn't ask any questions.

“I could help you,” Rush magnanimously offers.

Leo’s eyes light up a little bit. “You have a spell to help me remember?”

My suspicions about the two of them are getting stronger, so I continue to watch this all play out.

“Not a spell. I was there with you. In the before.” It seems as if it takes Rush a lot to admit this, but I think he's putting himself out there.

“You were? Why do I not remember?”

Rush reaches out to touch the top of Leo’s foot and is emboldened when Leo doesn't flinch or pull away. Rush allows himself a small smile before continuing. “Making you forget was part of her curse. Perhaps the worst of it, because now you don't know who I am, you don't know what we were. She made you forget, and she made me remember. That is my curse. Well, that and being a conifer for the same length of time you were a stone building edifice; we're both free of that now.”

The room goes energetically still. There's still noise happening from the other room and the conversation happening in there, and I don't hear shouting, so that's a good sign. The TV is still playing and there's a low hum from the ancient refrigerator in the kitchen, but nobody in the room is breathing louder than they absolutely must.

We're all perking our ears and sitting forward, ready to hear a story.

“Would you tell me?”

Rush nods and gets settled, scooting just a little bit closer to Leo.

Delaney and Saladriel join us at that point, and my mate looks a bit tense but fine mostly as she drops into the open spot next to Ash. “Whoa, I just walked in on something, didn't I? Should I go back to the other room?”

I'm not surprised that Delaney would offer this, because she's the sort of person that considers other people all the time. I mean, technically everybody in this room is her business, but she likes respecting boundaries.

Saladriel has his eyes opened wide at this though, and he’s looking at Delaney differently.

“No, my mate. Never. You must always be by me. Rush knows of my before. He was just about to tell us,” Leo earnestly explains.

Rush waits for Delaney’s approval before he jumps into his story. The way he starts though, it's clear he's been practicing this in his head for a while. That he's just been waiting for his chance.

“You were a bit of a naughty human,” Rush says with a wry grin. “You loved living, so much so that you wanted to do it forever. You were spinning deals left and right with anybody who would listen, and my father tasked me with monitoring you.”

“Your father, The Devil?”

Rush nods his head in agreement. “I followed you for a while, trying to figure out weaknesses and strengths and anything that might be necessary in case you became a threat in some way. But the more I watched you, the more I was drawn to you. One day I approached you, and it didn't take very long for me to convince you to give me a chance.”

Leo's skin, mottled and gray as it is, is flushing with confusion. “I don't understand. What did you want a chance to do?”

Rush extends a hand to Delaney, asking her to get closer. She does so reluctantly, sitting on the ground at the base of Leo’s chair just a few inches away from Rush. He carefully lifts a hand to tuck some of Delaney’s hair behind her ear, letting his thumb brush along her cheekbone briefly. He stares down at her hands, grabbing one with his. “I know you're angry with me. I know you don't understand me at all, or why I did what I did, and obviously you have every right to hate me for it. All I'm asking is that you don't hate me for Leo.”

“Why would I hate you for Leo?”

Rush sighs deeply, then punches right ahead. “Because I've been with him, too. That was kind of the reason he got cursed; well not really, but I had a hand in it. He’s a big part of my past. I know he's your mate, and I will respect that. But if I can help him not be so confused, I want to offer him that.”

Delaney looks around the room, maybe counting us, maybe just trying to clear her thoughts, who knows. “I can't be angry about who was in your past any more than you can be angry about who was in mine. In fact, it's hard to truly be angry at each other. Maybe my anger is better directed at the people that caused it; the gods and goddesses forcing us to play these ridiculous games for their entertainment.

---