CHAPTER 210: CHAPTER 210: NEW ENEMY

The next few days were quiet... eerily so, considering what had come before.

No divine explosions, no ether fluctuations bending the skyline, no uninvited gods folding reality open in the living room. Just peace. Or at least Victor’s version of it.

Elias had decided to make the most of it. He’d reclaimed the desk by the window, drowning himself in research papers and the half-finished draft of his dissertation. The hum of the ether stabilizers had faded into the kind of background noise his mind could work through, and the rain outside had settled into a steady, non-apocalyptic rhythm.

He’d even stopped looking over his shoulder every time the lights flickered. Progress.

Victor, for once, kept his promise. No training sessions. No half-serious lectures about defense mechanisms or divine interference. Just a kiss in the morning, a look that said ’don’t overwork yourself,’ and then he vanished to whatever impossible business gods handled between storms.

That morning, Elias had actually felt... normal. Human, even.

Aswin had claimed the chair opposite his desk, spinning in slow, lazy circles while pretending to read mission reports on a tablet. Every few rotations he’d stop, grin, and make a new attempt at conversation.

"So," Aswin began, "if you finish this Chapter of your PhD, do you get to call yourself Doctor Clarke? Because that’s got a nice ring to it."

Elias didn’t look up. "I already told you, academic titles don’t work like magic spells. You don’t just recite them to gain power."

Aswin’s grin widened. "You sure? Because it sounds like one. Imagine how terrifying it’ll be when you and Victor argue and you start with ’Actually, I’m a doctor.’"

Elias cracked the smallest smile, eyes still on his notes. "He’d remind me that he’s older than the concept of academia."

"Then you remind him that you can write footnotes and he can’t."

That earned a soft laugh, the kind Elias didn’t often let slip.

The door hissed open then, and Robert appeared like a herald of chaos, arms full of boxes, an overenthusiastic smile on his face. "Snack delivery! Ruo sent a care package for the ’expectant scholar.’ Her words, not mine."

Elias blinked. "That woman terrifies me."

"She terrifies everyone," Aswin said cheerfully. "What’s in the box?"

Robert began unpacking it like a magician at a children’s party. "Let’s see... tea blends, almond biscuits, crystallized fruit, something labeled medicinal honey of the sun gods..."

Elias didn’t even get to hear the rest. His stomach turned so violently that he barely had time to stand before gagging.

"Oh, for the love of..." He pressed a hand to his mouth, glaring at the offending jar like it had personally insulted him. "Honey?"

Aswin froze, tablet halfway to his lap. "Wait... was that a reaction?"

Robert blinked. "Do I... throw it away?"

Elias groaned, already turning away. "Yes. Preferably into the sun."

It was the sound, half choke, half protest, that brought the air pressure in the room down a few notches.

The lights dimmed. The stabilizers pulsed. And before anyone could comment, reality folded open at the far end of the room.

Victor appeared like a thunderclap given human form, coat half-open, eyes burning with divine alarm.

"Who touched you?"

Aswin flinched. "It’s honey."

Victor’s gaze cut toward him, deadly sharp. "Honey?"

Elias was bent over the counter, one hand braced against it, expression somewhere between nausea and exasperation. "It’s not a crisis, Victor."

Victor was already beside him, hand hovering over his back like he could exorcise the sickness out of him through sheer divinity. "You’re pale. You shouldn’t be pale."

"That’s because I just gagged, not because I’m dying," Elias said through gritted teeth. "Please, stop glaring at the honey."

Robert, wisely, set the jar down on the counter and retreated a safe distance.

Victor followed the movement like a hawk spotting prey. "It’s corrupted," he said flatly.

"It’s organic," Aswin offered weakly. "Different kind of horror."

Elias straightened, pushing Victor’s hand away with a breathless laugh. "You do realize this is what people call morning sickness, right?"

Victor blinked at him. "It’s morning?"

"That’s your takeaway?" Elias said, incredulous.

But Victor wasn’t listening. His gaze swept Elias from head to toe, as though assessing structural damage. "You didn’t tell me it started."

"I didn’t know it started," Elias said, dragging a hand through his hair. "I thought it was bad tea or Aswin’s jokes."

Aswin raised a hand. "Hey..."

Victor’s tone went low, dangerous, and entirely serious. "You will stay here. You will not touch anything that smells strange or glows. You will not..."

"...breathe? Exist?" Elias cut in dryly. "You’re worse than my advisor."

Victor’s jaw tightened. "Your advisor isn’t carrying my heir."

Robert let out a quiet whistle and quickly pretended to examine a tea tin, his eyes glowing with amusement from seeing Victor panicking over something so natural.

Elias sighed, leaning back against the counter. "You can stop looking at me like the sky’s falling. I’m fine. It was just honey."

Victor’s glare didn’t soften. "I don’t like the word ’just’ when it comes to you."

Elias looked at him for a long moment, then smiled, tired but genuine. "Noted. Now go be dramatic somewhere else. I’m trying to work."

Victor didn’t move, his crimson eyes pinning the omega down, probably thinking about how to make Elias never move from bed until he gives birth.

Elias tilted his head, teasing. "Or stay, if you want to witness the thrilling spectacle of me formatting citations."

That earned a faint, reluctant smile. "You’re impossible."

"I’m pregnant," Elias said sweetly. "It’s my prerogative."

Victor exhaled, stepped closer, and pressed a kiss to his forehead, careful and reverent. "Fine. But I’m keeping an eye on you."

Elias smirked. "You always do."

Across the room, Aswin mouthed to Robert, "He’s doomed," and Robert nodded solemnly, clutching the cursed honey like a bomb.

The day went on, the light soft and golden, and for once, the world didn’t feel like it was about to end.