Bound to Earth

43: Pillow Fight

When I stepped out of the bathroom, drying my hair with a towel, the hotel room was filled again. Valentino was laying on the bed, a bag of ice pressed to his jaw. Malachi sat not too far away from him, most of the tension from before, gone. At least they'd worked things out.

With calmness to match Brynjar, I set the towel on the desk and turned to Malachi. "I take it you're no longer angry?"

Malachi sighed and relaxed into himself, as if expecting me to yell at him for punching Valentino. "No. He explained a little, that you couldn't call or text. We were waiting for you to get out so he could explain the rest."

"Good." My hands clenched around the nearest pillow and I swung my body around. The polyester and cloth smacked directly into Malachi's face with a light thud. I didn't hit hard enough to hurt, only to surprise him. "What the hell were you thinking? Next time go punch a wall, not Valentino's face."

"Okay." He tried grabbing the pillow, only for me to pull it back and hit him again. "I get it."

I huffed and shoved the pillows in his arms. He reached beyond the pillows, wrapping around me and pulling me into his lap. I let him hold me, too tired to wrangle out of his grip. 

My body was exhausted. The strain of almost drowning and post-shockwaves of pleasure weighted down on me.

"Let's hear it, you two." Brynjar sighed, ready for sleep. "What kind of trouble did you get into?"

"We didn't get into any trouble." I groaned at Alistar's snort. Sex wasn't trouble, it was fun. And the guardian had pulled us into the water. "Trouble found us."

This time, Valentino laughed. "If that's your excuse for jumping off a cliff. Then, yes, trouble did find us."

Brynjar let out a long breath, one that lasted a few seconds. "This is why you couldn't contact us." It wasn't a question. "Why did you jump off a cliff?"

"I didn't jump." The pillow had become a nuisance, blocking me from feeling Malachi. I shifted in his lap, trying to wedge it out from under me. "I was pushed, or fell, or whatever you want to call it."

Valentino raised his hands in defense when Brynjar leveled a glare on him. "Hey man, I didn't push her. In fact, I jumped in after her like a good boyfriend, when the dinosaur compelled her, or whatever you want to call it."

"Dinosaur? Neither of you are making sense." Malachi threw the pillow on the other bed for me. His hand rested on my hips to keep me in place.

I silently thanked him with a small kiss to his chest. "We were visiting the ocean when this really big monster pushed me off a cliff. Valentino jumped in after me and the monster dragged us all the way to his cave at the bottom of the ocean because he was curious. He gave Valentino and I privacy, then brought us back up to the beach."

"He said some really interesting shit too, about Token." Valentino switched the topic to avoid a tongue lashing from Brynjar. It wouldn't stop a lecture, but divert it away from him for a bit. "Turns out she's more than just a Princess of Hell, but the Crown Princess of Hell." 

I glared at him. He smiled at me.

"Is that all?" From the look in Brynjar's eye, he was hoping that was all. If not, he may set the city on fire, possibly the world.

"Not even close." Valentino continued, smiling when I cursed at him. "Apparently Token disrupted the balance of the universe and fucked shit up. Now there's supposed to be this war or some shit coming up."

"I'd like to think of it more as a small rebellion. One that's been brewing in Hell since it was created." I interjected, doing my best to defend myself. I didn't think the King would have enough loyal soldiers to defend him if I started the rebellion.