Gluttony and Greed Walk into a Burger Joint

Chapter 3 - Judgement

The fries all but disappeared by the time Dani came back. Somehow, amassed with five burgers, her body language still read as nervous. Arek reached up to help her when she drew close, his voice smooth and velvet-warm. "Sweetheart thank you for your patience. I do hope you'll forgive the way we interact with our sister here—she's somewhat of a loose cannon."

Even the thick-rimmed glasses couldn't hide Dani's surprise while she put the first three burgers in front of Alus—one bacon and swiss, one triple-meat, triple-cheese, and the other avocado and mushroom. "Sister?"

"She'd adopted." The lie came quick and easy from Arek's lips as he helped Dani with the last two plates, putting the final triple-meat, triple-cheese in front of Runeak and his own black and bleu cheeseburger where he sat. "Tragic past. Lots of fights. She has a hard time communicating."

Runeak barked a growl at Arek, a sound more befitting an animal than a full grown woman.

Taking it all in stride, Arek's smile warmed and he turned Dani's startled face towards him with a finger on her chin. She met his lavender eyes with wide hazel ones, then blinked and pulled away. "Ah, uh, yes. Let me know...if you need anything."

"Something with sugar for after the meal." Arek's low voice could have melted cold iron.

Alus choked on his burger.

Dani tried to talk and failed miserably. "I—with and...as much as you need...?" She left quicker than the first time, if possible.

The moment she moved out of earshot, Alus grabbed the front of his brother's shirt and yanked him down, leaning over and hissing, "What in the Hells was that about?"

"I don't know!"

"Sugar? Really?"

"You've said way worse!"

"You've never said anything like that!"

"How is this my fault?"

"It came out of your mouth!"

"I can't keep it from happening, it just keeps happening!"

Runeak's monotone voice edged its way into the middle of their argument. "She's human."

The Twins blinked and looked at her, just as she sank her teeth into the burger Alus had ordered for her.

"How can you tell for sure?" Arek asked.

Runeak chewed and stared at him.

"Alright, alright." The lavender-eyed twin held up his hands in surrender. "I believe you. But it explains nothing."

Still staring, Runeak took another bite of her burger. It was high praise coming from her, all things considered. Since she kept eating it and didn't need to, it meant she liked it. She didn't have to admit to it for the Twins to know, and some small part of them felt pleased.

Arek looked at his own plate and frowned. With a sort of begrudging satisfaction, he picked up the burger and began to eat.

The three demons took the rest of the meal in silence.

When she finished, Runeak wiped at her mouth with her fingers in a pinched motion, flicked them to the ground and pushed her empty plate away with her other hand. "Easiest thing is to kill her."

The Twins answered her in the exact same tone at the exact same time. "What!?"

Runeak froze. The huntress picked up on their dismay to her solution, and was not pleased. 

"Madame Fury," Alus cleared his throat, trying to understand why his heart had leapt up into his throat at the same time he attempted to shove it back down. "You said so yourself. She's human. She isn't doing any harm." He thumbed towards Arek. "Save, arguably, her ability to turn Violet into a dumbass."

Arek slapped Alus on the crown of his head with an open palm, hard enough to jerk his brother's head forward, and Alus—as anyone who knew him could have predicted—laughed. Alus had a hundred nicknames for his brother. 'Violet' was one which, for whatever reason, got to Arek more than the others. After the slap, Arek put his hand on the back of Alus's head again and shoved him down while using the leverage to stand. Alus, being Alus, allowed it with nothing more than a subdued chortle. "What I think Alus is trying to say is we'll take care of it."

Runeak stood, slow and calculated. "You've seen how brightly she shines under the skin." Not a question, but a statement.

Arek frowned and nodded.

Runeak stared hard into the quieter twin's eyes and Arek read everything there was to see in that gaze. He was the one who finally blinked and looked away. Only then did the sister step out from the bench. "If you don't take care of it, I will." Lettuce would have had a harder time sounding more bland than Runeak in that moment. Not cold. Mundane and simple.

The Twins watched her walk away. Alus waited for her to turn the corner before he tilted his head to look up at his brother. "We just dicked ourselves, didn't we?" 

Aaaaand before we find out just how dicked they are, I'd appreciate any votes you deem worthy!