CHAPTER 438: SOMETIMES, WE FIGHT

"Alright, kids! What do we say when we’re trying to get your cranky old uncle up and about?"

""PLUS ULTRAAAA!!!""

"And?"

""POWERRRRRRR!!!!""

Malachi lay sprawled out on the floor on the back of a groggy Serosh.

One of the things Mal loved about Bianca was her childish innocence and playfulness.

Usually.

But when she was actively trying to get on his nerves, sometimes he had fantasies of stuffing her in a dryer and turning it on.

"Very funny, kids." Mal rolled his eyes.

Camille, Shiro, and the twins were like hands in gloves. After five minutes of catching up, you would think that they had all grown up in the same house, living the same life.

Shiro had somehow become the leader of the little soldiers. Likely because she was the most mature. (Bossy)

"Mommy! We have decided what we want for dinner tonight!" Shiro spoke in what Mal had dubbed her ’leader voice’.

"Oh? Well, what do my little honeys think they want?" Bianca smiled.

""""ENCHILADAS!!"""" The four of them yelled at once.

Malachi let out an obnoxious cackle as Bianca’s face lost some color.

"O-Oh... you know kids, that takes a lot of time for Auntie-Mama to make.... So how about this- let’s get big sis Serana to buy you some take-out, huh?"

Kids were never going to complain about takeout. Even if they weren’t human kids.

"Yay! You’re the best, mommy!" Camille threw herself at Bianca.

Malachi rolled his eyes again at the blatant avoidance. However, Bianca’s pettiness had yet to end.

She smiled evilly at Malachi as she continued to speak to the kids.

"And you guys know what? Since it’s a Friday night, you should ask your aunts if they’re okay with your cousins staying up late tonight. And then we can all watch my hero together! All. Night. Long."

Malachi started to wonder if they needed a bigger dryer.

Askari and Reken gasped.

They turned to Aisha, Aubrey, and Sabine who were simply sitting back on the sofa and watching the pandemonium unfold.

"I don’t have a problem with it." Aubrey already knew her kids would fall asleep two minutes after nine o’clock anyway. Dragons like sleep more than gold, which was really saying a lot.

She also wanted an opportunity to chat with her big brother and feel him out just a bit more.

With Aubrey’s acceptance, Sabine and Aisha didn’t seem to have much of a problem with the plan either.

"Baths first."

"And don’t just eat a bunch of crap at dinner please..."

The kids literally erupted with joy.

"It sounds very lively in here..."

Suddenly, Celeste and Sei came into the room hand in hand. They were understandably quite taken aback to see their living room more populated than normal.

"Surprise...!" Aubrey smiled nervously. "We’re, uh, gonna be imposing on you a bit... I hope that’s okay."

Celeste pursed her lips. "Well, it’s not if I don’t get my hug first."

Aubrey beamed.

She stood up and wrapped her arms around Celeste tightly. It was a sight that really warmed Mal’s heart to see. He couldn’t help but feel a warm emotion.

"Well, I think I’m going to follow Jo’s example and get a nap in since we’ll apparently be pulling an ’all-nighter’."

Aisha’s use of air quotes was not lost on anyone but the kids.

"I guess dragons really do sleep a lot. Sorry we don’t have a mountain of gold to keep you comfy." Mal attempted to joke.

But Aisha didn’t seem to pay attention to his little quip. She didn’t even acknowledge him.

Malachi furrowed his brow as she walked away without saying a word. He quietly sank into the shadows on the floor and left.

Sei started to question the weird atmosphere in the room, but thought she had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment.

"You two, come here." Sei curled her finger at her small children.

Camille and Shiro shuffled forward with awkward looks designed to convey innocence.

""Yes, mommy?""

"Where did you go with your grandfather earlier? What did he talk about with you?? D-Did he ask you about me??"

"Mommy, you’re hyperventilating..." Camille noted.

Sei couldn’t help herself. When Shin finally came back, he returned without the kids, saying they had already gone home.

That didn’t necessarily surprise Sei at all. What did put her off was what her father said next.

I’m sorry.

Sei thought she was going to faint when she heard that. It was no different than a blow to the back of the head.

She tried to press her father to elaborate on the reason why he was apologizing, but he sort of clammed up...

And then, when Sei tried to ask what he and the girls talked about, he emphasized that he had been ’sworn to secrecy’.

He claimed that they’d be in touch since he was also traveling the country, and then he got into his vehicle and drove away.

Sei flew home as fast as inhumanly possible. She very nearly gave poor Celeste whiplash.

"M-Mommy is fine, and I don’t mean to be dramatic, but I really, really need to know what you and your grandfather are talking about, or I might just die from the stress."

""Babe!!"" Celeste and Bianca chastised her.

"K-Kidding!" She wasn’t.

Shiro and Camille looked at each other awkwardly. It was clear that they both had something they wanted to say but weren’t sure how to go about it. Grown-up conversations were difficult to get a grasp on.

"Well..."

As Camille started to speak, suddenly a new hole opened up in the living room.

Serana stepped through, along with two other women the entire room recognized.

Camille placed a hand over her chest and let out a sigh of relief.

As soon as Serana laid eyes on her mother, she smiled half-heartedly.

"Hey, Ma, I’m glad you’re here already. Got a moment to talk?"

-

Aisha was around a quarter of the way to her bedroom when she suddenly fell flat on her face.

"Fuck, my nose!"

Aisha rolled around frantically holding her face in her hands.

She groaned as she sat up and found Malachi halfway submerged in the floor with both of his arms folded.

The look he gave her was deeply sour.

"I know you don’t think you’re just going to stay in my house and ignore me like I’m some-"

Aisha stamped her heel right into the bridge of Malachi’s nose. Now, they were both holding their faces and cursing nonsensically from the pain.

"God damnit... what the fuck was that for?!"

"Payback, you piece of crap." Aisha slowly got back to her feet. "Next time use your words instead of tripping me like some first grader."

Malachi appeared in Aisha’s path with a mildly bloody nose and glowing eyes.

"I only tripped you because you were ignoring me, twerp. How rude can you be?"

"So sorry. I didn’t know talking to me was any kind of priority for you at all. Figured you’d be fine without it." Aisha shrugged coldly. "My B."

She tried to step around him, but Malachi became a persistent obstacle.

Aisha looked like she was going to slug him.

"Out of my way, shithead."

"..."

The entire hallway became pitch black.

Aisha couldn’t make out anything, not even Malachi’s form.

All she could see were his deep, burgundy colored eyes.

She couldn’t tell if she’d been transported somewhere without realizing it or if her friend had simply chosen to do away with all of the light before it could reach her.

Her own irises shone brighter in response. Deep scarlet and crystalline like glistening rubies.

The dragon-shaped tattoo on her back began to glow so brightly that it couldn’t be hidden even through her sweater.

Red scales covered her hands and dark claws popped out of her fingertips.

"Do you think I can’t get out of this..?"

Malachi could feel himself getting worked up. He couldn’t fold in his wings anymore. Nor could he stop his tail from slithering out of his lower back.

"If you think I’m going to let you little boy me like when we were kids then you are grossly mistaken."

Aisha seemed to be getting bigger. Her muscles strained against the fabric of her clothes and her feet literally ripped out of her sneakers.

"Sounds like you’ve been spending too much time fighting nothing-burger ass whimps. It’s time you remember not everyone is going to shrink back in fear in front of Nyx’s precious son."