Chapter 136

Ways of the Odd (III)

Cain blinked a few times and groaned, slowly opening his eyes, noticing that it was quite bright in the room. He struggled to wake up, his body feeling lethargic and slow, but at the very least the pain was dulled till the point it was merely numb, annoying kind.

He sat up onto the bed slowly and took a few moments to shake himself awake before going to the bathroom for a quick, chilly shower. It refreshed him enough that he was walking like a penguin, but hardly did much else; every time he'd move any part of his body slightly away, his bones would creak and crack like the floorboards of an old, worn-out house.

"Oh well," he mumbled with a chuckle and quickly tossed on a few pieces of clothes. Glancing at the clock, it just ticked 10:00 A.M., with the date being February, the 3rd. Stretching and immediately yelping, he stumbled out of his room and into the living room to a surprise -- the TV was on, and sitting in front of it was Lana, eating cereal while watching some cartoons.

Him making noise must have startled her since she yelped and nearly dropped her bowl of cereal as her wary eyes looked his way. For a moment, they seemed surprised and in doubt, and she even had to wipe them a couple of times to ensure she wasn't imagining things.

"D-dad...?" she mumbled softly, still in disbelief.

"Firefly," Cain replied with a faint grin. "You've grown."

"Dad!!" Lana exclaimed exuberantly and stood up, rushing over toward him and practically launching herself into his embrace. Cain had to suppress a grunt of pain as she shuffled directly into his bones and muscles, while he wrapped his arms around her gently. Oh boy, this girl really doesn't hold back... "You're really here!! You're really back!!?"

"Y-yea," Cain mumbled through pain. "I'm... I'm really back, firefly..."

"Let's--let's watch Timmy's Borback House together!" Lana exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around his and yanked him forward.

"Timmy's--what now?"

"Timmy's Borback House!" she repeated. "It's about this really stupid rabbit who keeps trying to break into Timmy's house, but Timmy always has traps set up!! He he, and then the stupid rabbit fails and hits his head or falls! One time, he got set on fire, he he!" Jesus, they still make shows that fucked up for kids? I thought that shit died with my generation...

"Sounds fun," Cain said.

"It is. So, where is mom?"

"Oh, mom's still inside the Tower."

"Eh?"

"Yeah, daddy came out to rest for a bit," he added. "And mommy stayed in to keep the bad guys occupied."

"Will... will she be fine?" Lana asked pensively.

"Oh, of course," Cain reassured her with a chuckle, gently caressing the young girl's head. "Mommy is... mommy is really strong, you know? In some ways, even stronger than daddy."

"... can... can I ask you something?" Lana went oddly quiet for a moment before asking.

"Anything, princess."

"Are... are you and mom... gonna get married?" she asked, curling up her fingers and tightly holding onto her pajamas.

"... I sure hope so," Cain replied, smiling. "And I'm pretty sure mom hopes so too."

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"R-really? We... we can be a family, again?" her words cut Cain deep, but he didn't respond to them. At least, not audibly.

"Yes, firefly," he nodded, patting her head again. "We'll be a family and we'll do all those boring things families do. We'll have breakfasts together, we'll take those stupid pictures so your mom can brag about how cute you are, we're gonna be attending your graduation ceremonies and hollering and yelling so loudly you'll be beyond embarrassed... everything, the whole book of 'what the family does'."

"... I... I'd like that..."

"Good, 'cause you're gonna get it -- a lot of it. Anyway, how are things here, firefly? You playin' with the bird?"

"Ah!! Cheebo! Yes!" Lana exclaimed as she suddenly ran off someplace.

"... you... named him Cheebo?" Cain mumbled with a strange expression on his face. "Now I feel kinda bad for the guy..." she came rushing back a few moments later, a crown in her head, leaping back up onto Cain's lap and forcing him to stifle a grunt of pain yet again.

"Cheebo, Cheebo, come out!" Ah, she's really into it... fire kindled gently and curled around her fingers for a moment before enveloping the crown. Just a second later, a bird's screech exploded out as a fat-bellied phoenix strutted out, flapping his wings while his head remained at an upward angle, as though he was looking down at the world. "He he, Cheebo, look who's back!"

"Coo?" the bird curiously tilted its aflamed head sideways, meeting Cain's strangely-smiling face. The tiny eyes seemed to freeze for a moment, the beak halfway open, flaming feathers shivering strangely. "C-c-coo..."

"I heard they ran out of talismans -- all of them... I'm afraid you're stuck..."

"C-COO!! COO COO COOOO!!" the bird cried out -- vocally and through its eyes -- as it flapped its wings and rushed at Cain, gently rubbing its beak against the former's chest, seeming to implore about something.

"I knew phoenixes were prideful," Cain mumbled, chuckling bitterly. "But... can't you keep it in check? You're setting a bad example for my girl."

"Aww, dad, don't be mad! Cheebo is cute! It's adorable when he puffs his belly out like that!" Lana said.

"Yeah, he ain't puffing it out, firefly," Cain sighed. "He's just gotten fat."

"E-eh?"

"You've been feeding him chocolate, didn't you?"

"... I... no..."

"Lana," Cain said semi-sternly. "Don't lie to me."

"... I... maybe..." Lana lowered her head and mumbled a reply, playing with her fingers nervously. "But he likes it! A lot!"

"Hey, it's your bird," Cain shrugged. "If you want to see it grow bigger and bigger and eventually explode..."

"---!! He... he's going to explode?!!!" a look of horror appeared on Lana's youthful face as she stood up. "N-no... no... NOOO!!" she began crying and weeping loudly, startling Cain. E-eh? OH SHIT!!

"I--I'm kidding, firefly!! I'm just kidding! Hey, you stupid bird, tell her you won't explode!!"

"C--COO, COO COO, COO!!!" Cheebo flapped its wings almost as though he was a human using arms, seemingly just as worried about the young girl as Cain was.

It took a good half an hour for Lana to calm down completely, though the red eyes, red cheeks, and the dry lips spoke efforts of the turmoil she had gone through. Jesus Christ... I'm the absolute worst father ever in the history of fucking everything, Cain really felt like he could use a cigarette to calm his nerves, but decided against it. Sometimes, drugs were hardly truly helpful.

"Have you calmed down, firefly?"

"... you're mean, dad." Lana mumbled.

"No, not mean -- awful, terrible, an asshole--"

"--dad!! No bad words!!" Lana interrupted, barely holding back a smile.

"Oh, right. Khm, so, as I was saying -- dad... is very sorry. Look, whatever you want -- just tell me. I'll do it!"

"You swear?"

"I swear!"

"... I... I want you to stay here," Lana said suddenly. "Not... not forever. Just... for a while. I know... I know you are a hero and you stop bad guys... but--"

"I'll stay, firefly," Cain interrupted as he suddenly picked her up off the floor and set her on his lap. "For as long as you want."

"R-really? What... what about the bad guys?"

"You're way more important than them," Cain said, glazing her cheeks. "Besides, your daddy isn't the only hero, you know? There's Uncle Jamal, Daniel, and Lukas, and big sis Senna, and big sis Diya, and we met a new young boy in there just now, Taima's his name, he's a hero too. And mommy, too. Bad guys will always have heroes to fight them. Because good people... good people will always beat the bad."

"Always?"

"... always," Cain mustered a lie with a smile. "So, don't you worry about the bad guys, okay? Anyway, your daddy's hungry. How about you? Want me to fix us breakfast?"

"I--I'll do it!" Lana exclaimed confidently all of a sudden. "I... I wanted to surprise you and mom, so I asked aunt Jennie to teach me... you... you weren't supposed to come back yet so... it might not be--"

"My... my angel is... is gonna make me breakfast?" Cain stuttered as tears coalesced on the corners of his eyes. "I... this..."

"D-dad, stop!! It's embarrassing! It's probably gonna be awful!!"

"I have been blessed," Cain sighed, having tuned Lana out. "By such an angel... she's gonna fix me a breakfast... hi hi... ah, I can already imagine the look on Em's face... she gon' be pissed... but also happy... ah, I'm a truly blessed man..." Lana looked strangely at Cain mumbling for a moment, then ran off -- partly because she was excited to try and make him a meal... but partly also because she got kind of scared. But just a little bit. Nothing like when she was much younger...