A/N 6/1/07 : There. Sorry it took me so horribly long, as usual, and that it's short and... yeah. Weird. I even forgot to bring Mark back in for his final appearance like I had planned, but... oh well. Maybe one of these days I'll write a sequel or something.
Do let me know about any mistakes in this, aside from plot holes...
Cannot explain how much I love everyone who reviewed, so I'll just say thank you very much. XD
Chapter/21: Epilogue
My brother was a nervous man. On the next Friday night, as he sat in a restaurant booth across from Raina trying to look deeply into her eyes or some other romantic idiocy, he drummed his fingers lightly against the bottom of the table, probably in an attempt to distract himself from the recent arrival of a third party. Aristos had taken the liberty of joining Leon and Raina on their first date- or what Leon said was their first date. (Such a liar.)
Leon was nervous, and he was pissed. He made it clear to everyone exactly how pissed he was when he got home that night, and gave us an abbreviated version of what had happened. The real story, though, came from Aristos, who apparently was so smug with his success that he told Skorpios about it, who told me the next day.
Aristos really is quite an asshole.
"I don't know why you look so upset, Leon," he was telling my brother over the menus. "Everyone here is enjoying themselves but you."
Leon tried to kick him under the table. He missed and hit the table leg instead. The table shook the tiniest bit, but Raina didn't notice.
"That's a very pretty lady, Leon."
Leon scowled at him when Raina wasn't looking. Aristos looked back calmly, ignoring the scowl.
"Don't you think so?"
That's when Leon stood up and excused himself to go to the men's room. Like a gentleman, I'm sure, even before the entrees. Aristos followed after Leon glanced back meaningfully at him for a second.
There were already several other people in there, so Leon picked a stall- the farthest one down- and locked it after Aristos.
"It's time for you to go home now," my brother told him, as quietly as possible, his teeth ground together.
"But you just got here," Aristos answered, raising his eyebrows. Being difficult must run in the Grim family.
"I am staying here with Raina," Leon said. Calm and composed, no doubt. Ha. "You are going home. Right now. You have no right to be here on my date. You were not invited and you are being very rude."
"That's perfectly all right," Aristos said. "I invited myself."
"So I see," Leon snapped at him. "But you can't do that." He was probably getting a little louder, although if anyone had heard him I guess they would have assumed he was just another jerk with a cell phone.
"I think I can."
"Well, you can't. That's not how it works here. You have no right to think you can interfere with-"
"Calm down."
By the time Leon got back to the table, Raina was leaning back against the seat, looking bored. She raised an eyebrow when she saw him. "What happened to you?" she asked. "And what took you so long?"
I would like to take this moment to pause and review this statement. "What happened to you?" What the hell could have happened to Leon while taking a piss that could have drawn Raina's attention, other than some events that Aristos conveniently forgot to mention? I personally believe that Aristos brutally RAPED my brother in the restroom stall. Or perhaps something less drastic but still wrong. Aristos was doing something he shouldn't have, I know it, and that it why to this day I do not trust the Grim Reaper's eldest son.
Sneaky bastard.
"Sorry about that," was the only anwer Leon supplied to Raina's question as he sat down.
"You wouldn't have had to get up in the first place if you didn't get such an attitude over every minor detail," Aristos chose to tack on for Leon's exclusive benefit. "You're making everything much more difficult than it really is. You came here to eat food with this... this person. So eat food."
"What the fuck else do you think I'm doing?" Leon muttered.
"What?" Raina said, looking at Leon incredulously.
"Uh, nothing. I was just, um- I mean, I didn't say anything."
"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Aristos said. "You don't keep your mouth shut, and then you can't even talk yourself out of it. It must be your younger sibling's obnoxious tendencies rubbing off on you, I fear."
No, as a matter of a fact I didn't give a shit when I heard that Aristos had said that.
"I don't know what you see in this female human, Leon. I'll admit she's fairly attractive, but she's entirely uninteresting. Tell her that if she can't make an intelligent statement, she should refrain from speaking altogether."
I believe Aristos managed to be as not-unwittingly aggravating as Skorpios could be that evening, although with his sarcastic, brooding personality it must have been a bit of a challenge. His inner instincts were probably telling him to dispose of the hoebag immediately. All in all, though, he obviously enjoyed himself far more than he should have.
At least, that's what Skorpios told me.
I smiled after I'd heard it. "I didn't know that Aristos was even capable of talking enough to tell you all that."
Skorpios looked at me strangely, amusement in his eyes. "Of course he talks. And... I think that's the first time I've ever seen you smile."
I blinked in suprise and realized he had to be right; I hadn't done much smiling over the past few years. Embarrassed, I ducked my head away from him. Skorpios protested. "Hey, don't cover it up. It looks good on you." He grinned. "You should try it more often."
"Whatever." I covered my face anyway. In his shoulder.
Just for record, my brother stayed angry all day, in classic-moody-sulky-pissed-Leon mode, until Aristos finally found a way to cheer him up.
He didn't tell us his methods.
We didn't really want to know.