The Virtue Of My Dark Angel, Dark Angels of the Apocalypse Book 3

Chapter Thirteen: Clash Of Natures

Bethany..

Bethany was left alone, standing awkwardly by the sofa with her arms crossed over her chest. Ginger hopped up and laid down on the sofa with his head on his paws to look at her while she stood there. “Oh don’t look at me like that! All accusing like I caved! He stole my knife! And my clothes!” Bethany hugged her ribs. “Though maybe I’m happy to be back here where it’s dry with dry clothes now..” Ginger huffed and Bethany shot him a sharp glare.

“Like you weren’t taking bribes earlier!” She scolded. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the food and the pets being sent your way by a certain human male!” Ginger turned around to face away from her like he was ignoring her. “Traitor.” She grumbled.

“Who..? No! No beasts on the couch!” Barbatos had finally returned and his voice cracked across the room like thunder. Ginger yelped as Barbatos pointed towards him, a sound like a siren or horn shrilly sounded, and Ginger leapt from the couch as if someone had lit his tail on fire. In seconds, he was cowering behind Bethany, who was checking him over for injury.

“What did you do?” She stormed, just as Drew burst into the room.

“Barbatos! I swear to you, I’ve told you once if I’ve told you a hundred times! Don’t you dare use that power inside the house! Nearly gave me a heart attack! Thought we were under attack! You wanna call down Heavens, or raise up the armies of Hell, fine! But do. It. OUTSIDE!” Drew exclaimed, pointing a finger himself to the outside world he was referencing and getting closer to the Demon than any person should probably ever dare. Bethany stared at them both, waiting tensely for Barbatos’ reply, but then Drew’s eyes fell on Bethany, comforting the trembling Ginger. “Oh my God ‘Tos! Did you use it on the Pupper? How dare you?!” Drew fell to his knees beside the dog, hugging him around the neck, and glared accusingly at Barbatos.

“Say you’re sorry.” Drew demanded of the Demon. Barbatos scowled.

“Damned beast was on the couch. I don’t like animals on the furniture, Drew.” Barbatos grumbled.

“Bullshit!” Spat Drew, making Bethany blink. “Then you’d best stay off the furniture yourself! After all, what form do you take when you’re not trying to look pretty?” Drew derided.

“That’s pretty?” Bethany mumbled, and both men glared at her, so she shut up, sucking her lips into her mouth to prevent any more escapee comments.

“Say sorry..” Drew warned, and at first, Bethany thought he might be talking to her, but then he finished it with “or you won’t be sharing my bed tonight, you hairy Demon.” And her gaze bounced between Drew and Barbatos again.

“Fine.” Growled Barbatos, crossing his arms over his chest. Arms which definitely seemed harrier than they had been moments before. “Sorry.” He sniped. Drew shook his head.

“You and I both know he knows you don’t mean it. Look at him still trembling! For someone with as many gifts as you have, you sure are sour. Now say it right!” Drew egged him on.

“Alright! I’m sorry Beasty. You didn't deserve it. Happy now?” Barbatos barked. Drew tsked.

“You’re the one who can talk to animals, ask him.” Drew snarked, and Barbatos snarled, baring sharp teeth.

“Wait.. what?” Bethany interrupted. "You can.. How am I just now hearing about this?” Her head swam and a dozen little things suddenly made sense.

“You know what Ginger’s saying? Can he understand me? Will you tell him something for me? Will you apologize for me for all the times I’ve accidentally tripped on him or kicked him or stepped on his paws? And tell him I love him more than anything because he’s the only one who’s stuck with me no matter what. Wait, does he understand what I mean by ‘love’? You know what, never mind, tell him anyway. Oh, and also he’s too damn big and hot to lay on my legs anymore, which is why I chase him off. I’m not trying to be mean, it’s just I feel trapped and sweaty, he should get that since we’ve been on the run so much, and..” Bethany kept babbling, hardly aware of the two men’s stunned expressions, or how they changed as she talked.

“I can teach you how to do it yourself!” Barbatos brusquely cut her off before stomping out of the house, leaving Bethany to stare after him until Drew interrupted.

“He’s just not very good with people, doll.” Drew murmured and Bethany snorted.

“I’d noticed.” She muttered, and Drew shot her a grin. She tried to stifle the feeling of bonding that once again rose up in her. Drew had already made his feelings about her known, rather loudly, and she wouldn’t be lulled into complacency by an easy smile. She looked away quickly, and then cursed.

“Damnit, he took my knife!” She complained.

Barbatos..

When Barbatos returned to the farmhouse, soaked and in a foul mood, it was to see his two Marked humans busily setting the table for a meal.

A sense of rightness hit him in the chest so hard he nearly stumbled, and the side of him that retained his Virtue tried to pull the veil over his eyes to show him how right things could be. Visions of Vethany shattered his vision, and he froze as the pieces of past, present and future tried to play out in front of him.

“‘Tos!” Drew called happily, thankfully pulling Barbatos from his blindness. “I bet you didn’t know our girl Bethany could cook did you?” So it was ‘our girl’ all of a sudden, Barbatos thought wryly.

“Not very many things.” She protested. “I’m mostly self-taught, plus learned by watching a few people here and there.. I’m just good at making do.” She made the excuses with red slowly creeping into her face.

“Yeah but you’re creative. I gave you a list of a few simple ingredients and you came up with things I never would have thought of.” Drew winked at her, and she blushed harder.

“Like I said.. Making do. When you’re low on supplies, you sort of get that way..” Bethany mumbled.

“Oh good grief stop flirting already and serve the food.” Barbatos grumbled as he stomped past them to the kitchen to wash his hands. If Bethany was going to stay, he may need to build some additions to the farmhouse. He wondered if Drew would be up for helping him out again. Barbatos jolted as he realized he was making plans without consulting either of his Marked humans. Nothing was set in stone yet, and he knew better than anyone how the course of the future could change in the blink of an eye.

On the way back to the table, he passed Drew, who nudged him with an elbow and hissed a “Be nice!” In his direction. Bethany scowled at him as she passed, carrying a large, steaming pot of something that smelled.. Salty. He followed his nose, trailing after her, wondering what in all the versions of Earth she’d created.

Dish after dish was brought out and laid on the table and Barbatos found his mouth watering at the scent emanating from more than one. He sat slowly as his two Marked brought out the last dish and took seats themselves.

“So what culinary delights have you prepared for us?” Barbatos questioned, and Bethany blushed.

Drew and I made a variety of dishes.” Bethany informed him almost defensively, though Barbatos wasn’t sure whether the defensive stance was in favor of herself or Drew. “Drew said you preferred meat with your meal, so he handled that while I made some side dishes and a dessert, just out of some things Drew said needed to be used up quickly before they spoiled.” Bethany’s scowl deepened as she ladled soup into three bowls. “I just wanted to do my part to help out if I was going to be.. You know.. Using your things and eating your food..” She trailed off, looking away with a furious blush. Hadn’t he made a similar point? He let it slide, regardless. Then his bowl of soup landed in front of him.

“What the heck is this?” He asked, spooning up the cloudy liquid with potato cubes inside.

“It’s potato soup.” Bethany responded, crossing her arms over her chest, ladle tucked over her arm so that it dripped on the table. “And you don’t have to eat it if you don’t want it.”

“‘Tos,” Drew said warningly, which surprised Barbatos. His two Marked humans were turning on him now. “It’s not like it’s an unheard of soup, and it helped us use up some of those potatoes before they could go to seed. And Lord knows we don’t need any more potatoes going to seed around here, we have more than we can handle as it is.” Barbatos winced, for two reasons. First, at Drew’s causal use of a reference for a ‘deity’ from his Homeworld, one of many that set themselves up to be worshiped by humans, or at least didn’t actively discourage it, and in many cases encouraged it, and could easily be said to have betrayed Barbatos. And second, because of the mention of the potatoes, of which there were always too many, not enough hands to harvest, and always more sprouting before they could get to them again.

“It’s just something my parents sort of passed down. While they were still together. It was an easy resource at the time. An easy meal. Takes almost nothing to make. I don’t even remember which one of them the recipe actually belonged to originally, come to think of it..” Now Bethany was frowning, and she sounded nervous, and Barbatos found himself dropping his spoon back in the liquid to scoop some to his mouth. The buttery salt and pepper explosion was unexpected, and combined with the flavor of the potato, wasn’t half as bad as Barbatos thought it was going to be. With some bread or meat to go with it, he might actually like it. He grunted, dropping his spoon back in the bowl.

“It’ll pass.” He muttered. “What else?” Bethany glared as Drew dished out fresh corn on the cob, some leftover venison steaks, and fresh salad, straight from their garden.

“I’m afraid the salad is leftovers as well. We were trying to use up whatever was about to spoil, so the lettuce, tomato and cucumber, plus of course we threw in carrots for good measure. I know how much you hate frozen or pickled veggies.” Drew winked as he explained, and Barbatos scowled at his cheekiness. This was a veritable feast compared to what Drew and Barbatos usually ate. Then Drew pointed out the dessert. “And last but not least, cherries and dumplin’s.” Drew announced, lifting the lid off a steaming pot. The tart smell of the cherries hit the air and Barbatos’ mouth actually watered. “Bethany came up with this one, trying to help me use up those cherries from the tree. I told her we were sick of pie, tarts, jams, etc..”

“I know it’s not actually that different, but we used to do this with blackberries. And apples..” Bethany fidgeted, and something about her manner caught Barbatos’ attention.

“Who hurt you girl?” He shook his head, and Bethany stiffened.

“Who hasn’t?” She shot back, but Barbatos winced, and let the topic drop. He didn’t make any further comment as he ate, though his two Markeds talked, but he could sense the deep well of pain in Bethany, and it itched at him to dig it out.

Instead, he showed his appreciation for the food by eating every bite, then cleared the table and helped Drew with the dishes. Sure, he could probably snap his fingers and make it all ‘go away’, but then he’d miss the lingering thank-you kiss from Drew, accompanied by the quick squeeze to his ass Drew gave him as he walked by Barbatos out of the kitchen.

“Worth it.” Barbatos mumbled to himself, and followed after his Marked.