Little Red Robin Hood

XXII - Home Sweet Home

When I went back to the truck after gathering my bags from Amelia's house, Cloud was behind the wheel. He was wearing his fancy grey and black dress. I put my bags in the back seat, then buckled up. Cloud began to drive.

I couldn't stop myself from glancing at his clothing. His soft, pale shoulders were exposed, and his neck decorated with the black and silver collar. He appeared even more beautiful than when I had first seen him. I suppose it made sense, with him being a literal god. Wow. I was going to live with a literal god.

"You know, sometimes I can't turn the mind-reading thing off."

I felt as though I had been punched in the gut, "...Oh."

He continued, "Not that I'm not flattered. Or surprised. I mean, you literally drooled the first time you saw me."

I sunk into the seat, "Well, I had just fallen face-first into the snow and came face-to-face with a literal god who was stalking me."

"I was not stalking you," he pouted. "It's not my fault Grandfather put us together."

"Well, your grandfather sounds a bit rude," I sighed. "Just... putting two random people together who barely know each other. One of which is--" I sucked in a deep, shaky breath, "--traumatized and shaky around men."

We were both silent. I stared out the window. The houses and buildings slowly grew farther and farther apart, until they stopped completely. On all sides, all I could see was cold tundra forest.

"Raine, I know you're not okay," Cloud softly said. "I just have one request: when you have bad days--because there will be bad days--you tell me, okay?"

"Right now, pretty much every day is a bad day," I sighed.

"I know," he nodded. "I'm talking about the days where getting dressed or eating feels exhausting. The days where your hands and legs shake and your chest and stomach feel tight. Those are the bad days. I just want you to tell me when those days happen, okay? Can you do that?"

I paused for a moment. I knew he was right. I nodded, then breathed, "I'll need to go to work on Monday but honestly.... I just need a few weeks to... to understand. To try to sort through everything."

"Understandable," Cloud nodded. "It's been a wild month. Maybe going to work will help you regain a sense of normal. And, you'll have about three days to get used to me and my brothers. We'll be there soon."

"...You mentioned, earlier...," I slowly and carefully began. "You said that your cabin is somewhere between Ivory Tower and... someplace else. Wh-what place would that be?"

Cloud was silent for a moment. "The Winter Alliance. Three kingdoms which my brothers ruled over: wolf, lion, and tiger. The people of the kingdoms worshipped them."

"Worshipped, ruled.... Those are past tense."

"...Yeah. It was destroyed about a century ago," Cloud softly said. "As far as we know, there were only two survivors: Princess Alivina and Prince Darkona, of the lion and wolf kingdoms."

"Where are they now?" I asked.

"Darkin moved down south to live with two of my younger siblings," Cloud replied, "and Alivina decided to go to New York to be employed by my uncle... who owns a nightclub for immortals."

"...Oh," I breathed. "So... they're immortals?"

"Now they are," Cloud snorted. "Uh... immortality's sexually transmitted."

"...Oh," I repeated. "So... they both...."

"Yep," he nodded. "Anyway... here we are. Home sweet home."