Maliah stood in the kitchen as the memories came back to her, one by one. She shook her head to clear the cobwebs, sitting down hard before she fell. Breathing, just breathing, was all she did as she got her thoughts in order. So she was back. Alive and well. All at once she shot to her feet and patted herself down before diving for the phone pressing speed dial.

It was only a ring or two before her mother’s voice answered, “Hey baby….you make it back okay huh?”

“Hey, mama…” she hoped her voice wasn’t shaky. Was it the same day? The day she was supposed to be back from her trip? Thoughts whirled in her head. It felt like weeks since that trip.

But unfortunately her mother picked up on the subtle change of Maliah’s voice, “You alright?”

Maliah cleared her throat, “I’m fine , mama. You and pops okay?”

“Yea, why wouldn't we be? Maliah, are you sure you are okay? You are sounding a little strange. What’s wrong? Something go wrong on your trip?”

Maliah’s mother was becoming more and more demanding and Maliah had to giggle as tears pierced her eyes. No matter what happened next, she knew she made the right choice to come back.

Then she heard her father in the background, “What’s wrong? The child okay? She’s back isn’t she?”

“Yeah, but she’s acting funny!” Maliah’s mother cried, pulling the phone a little ways from her mouth.

“But I’m fine, ma!” Maliah giggled again.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“You sure, you sure?”

Maliah wiped her eyes all of a sudden feeling like she needed a nap, “Mm-mm…just tired from my trip is all, I guess.”

“Well alright then….” Maliah’s mother drawled, “Long as you sure.”

“Is Maliah okay? Who I gotta straighten out now?” she heard her father asked. He must have been closer to the phone because he was louder and more clear.

“Maliah’s fine. She’s just tired. Quit flipping out!”

“I wasn’t. You were flipping out.”

Maliah heard her mother tsk at her father before turning to the conversation, “Ok, did you enjoy your trip?”

Maliah conversed with her mother for awhile, all while trying to figure out the timeline of what happened. After she hung up from the phone call she went in search of her cell phone, which was in her backpack purse in her room. She took it out and nervously waited for it to turn on. Once it did, the date stared at her.

It was the same day that she was supposed to be home. 6:45pm. That was about the time it would take for her to get home. So did the accident even happen?

Suddenly her home phone went off once again. Absently, she walked back to the phone and picked up.

“Maliah!! The Lord is good!!” Her mother’s voice came practically shouting over the phone. She didn’t even wait for her to say anything as she continued, “You may not have heard since you just got back but there was a bad accident on the highway that you were on. Had you left a moment earlier, you might have been in that accident.”

Maliah sat hard on her couch.

So it really did happen.

It was almost too much to process. Her mother thought she had missed the accident but she didn’t know that Maliah actually had died. Because she was fated to a Death Prince she was allowed to use it as her wish to come back to life. And because of that contract, it brought her unbeknownst to her family, back to them.

In the following week, Maliah would slowly swear that it had to be all a dream. It had to be! It was too fantastical for it to have happened. That was what she told herself anyway as she continued her normal life, returning to her to her regular job working for the state.

On Saturday when Maliah woke up, she felt cold. There was no reason she should feel cold in the middle of July but the longer the day wore on the colder she felt. By the afternoon, she couldn’t take it anymore and turned up her heat before going to do her laundry in her apartment basement. She had gotten through half her four loads when she suddenly felt a small jolt to her heart. She reached up and massaged it with a small frown. Maybe she ate too much spicy food yesterday. Her tolerance for spicy food was pretty high. Oh well, whatever.

Maliah really needed to get back upstairs where it was warm. Why did it seem colder in the basement? Maliah picked up her laundry basket and almost dropped it when she was hit with another jolt. When she regained herself she realized that her laundry didn’t spill on the ground.

Looking up she saw Abioye looking down at her, his face unreadable. “Abioye?” she murmured.

“It’s been a week”, he said without preamble.

It was interesting that the weight in her chest lightened suddenly.

“Come on”, Abioye said, carrying her laundry basket. She stood surprised and by the time he got to the door, she could feel a sense of heaviness returning.

“Let’s go, Maliah”, Abioye hissed.

Maliah moved then jogging to catch up with him. It was silent as they walked up the stairs and she opened the door with her key. Once inside, he sat her basket down and calmly kicked off his shoes, placing them on the mat next her hers before walking over to her couch and sitting down. She stood shocked staring at his shoes for a long moment before following to sit down next to him. She blinked at him. She was so surprised he took off his shoes she couldn't feel negative that he walked up into her apartment without invitation.

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They sat in silence for a long moment before Abioye spoke, “I think I figured out what this nurturing of the spirit is supposed to be.”

She looked up at him, “What is that?”

He looked down at her, “It seems that we will have to spend the day together. You felt a heaviness in your chest, yes?”

Maliah nodded.

“And now you don’t?”

Maliah shook her head.

“What is the common denominator?”

Maliah blinked.

Abioye sighed, “I think simply we must be in close proximity to each other.”

“For how long?” Maliah asked.

“I’m not sure.”

Maliah felt awkward sitting next to Abioye who seemed to freeze like a statue. Finally she couldn’t take it and went to get her laundry basket. She had things to do. Maliah entered her room and dumped out the clothes. She glanced nervously to her open door before beginning to put up the clothes. When Maliah finally finished that load and returned to the living room Abioye was sitting exactly as he left him, arms folded and legs crossed. He didn’t even blink when she returned. Was he a statue?

To break the awkward silence Maliah asked, “Do you want to watch some TV?”

“No.”

Maliah nodded and went into the kitchen, “Thirsty? Do you want some water?”

“No.”

Maliah got her a glass and chugged it down. Then she glanced at her vacuum wondering if it would bother him.

“Um….”

“Just continue on with your life as if I’m not here”, Abioye spoke suddenly, making Maliah surprise. He didn’t move and his back was to her. How did he know?

Maliah finally nodded and pulled her vacuum out. “It’s loud”, she warned before turning it on. When she glanced over at Abioye he hadn’t moved a muscle. Then she became engrossed in vacuuming and when she got to the couch Abioye turned so he was lying on the couch allowing her to hit that part of the floor. By the time she got her room and looked back, he had gone back to his usual arrangement, arms crossed, one leg over the other and staring straight ahead.

Maliah left the vacuum in the hallway and went to clean the bathroom. When she returned Abioye still had not yet moved.

“You know if you need to use the restroom, it’s right here”, she offered.

Abioye nodded.

Maliah breathed a sigh of relief when she realized she had to go get her last two loads of clothes and bolted to the door. She had slipped her shoes on and opened the door only to let out a shriek at the fact that Abioye was suddenly right next to her.

“What are you doing?” she asked as he put on his shoes.

Abioye glared at her, “I know humans aren’t that smart but surely you remember not even an hour ago that you felt that jolt in your chest? You want to experience it again?”

“Not particularly.”

“Then let’s go.”

Maliah was quick to put her dry clothes in the basket trying to arrange the less sensitive material at the bottom. Abioye stood back to her and arms folded without her even saying anything. When she was done she turned and barely took two steps before Abioye took the basket. He walked to the door without a backwards glance and she followed him silently. LIke before once they were back in her apartment, he set the basket down, kicked off his shoes and returned to his position on the couch.

“Thank you….” Maliah called out as she was slow at taking off her own shoes.

Abioye just nodded once as Maliah hauled the basket in her room and dumped out her clothes. Ten minutes later she returned back to the living room to make dinner not only for that evening but some that she could put in the freezer for next week.

Maliah glanced at the clock. It was now nearing 5 o’clock.

She spoke in between cutting up the vegetables, “You know you don’t have to sit there the entire day.”

Honestly, Maliah half expected for Abioye not to speak but after a moment he finally did, “What else am I supposed to do?”

Maliah remembered the mound of folders on his desk, “I’m sure you have whatever work you need. If you are working on something just bring it by.”

Abioye turned his head a little to throw over his shoulder, “I’ll remember that for next time. Thank you.”

Maliah continued and after a bit she asked, “Abioye?”

“Yes?”

“I was wondering, do you always have to come to me to do the bonding?”

Abioye stood then and came to the dining table and took a seat, “Tired of me already?”

“No, no! That’s not what I meant!” Maliah almost waved her hands except she had a knife and a tomato in each. Maliah noticed, he was smirking at her.

With a growl, she continued her food preparation, “I just meant that it’s probably an inconvenience for you to come here all the time. I was wondering if there would be a time that I could go to you.”

Abioye watched her slice up the tomatoes, “No. Now that you are alive again, you won’t and can’t set foot back in Mi’ol until you are dead.”

Maliah stopped and looked at him surprised then ventured to ask, “What if I do?”

“Well, first off you are alive. You can only reach the place when you are dead or in a coma skating between life and death. And even if you could reach it as an alive person, that place would kill you.”

Maliah supposed that made sense. Abioye finally looked at a plate of food that was sitting on the dining table. One of the many meals that Maliah had prepared for next week. He frowned and pointed to something, “What is this?”

It was a bunch of vegetables mixed with noodles. “Ahh, just something I threw together”, Maliah answered.

Abioye couldn’t help but to pick up the spoon that was in it to inspect it closer. Then he lifted one side of his nose before setting the spoon back down.

Maliah blinked at this, “What are you a picky eater or something? Wait!” She paused as a thought came to her, “Do Death Princes, eat?”

Abioye looked at her, “Only if we want to.”

“So do you have a favorite food?”

“No. I just like tea, that’s all.”

Maliah smirked at him, “Seems we have something in common then.” She placed the knife on the table and went over to a cabinet before flinging it open dramatically. Abioye raised an eyebrow.

Maliah gave a huge grin, “Pick a tea my friend. Any tea! I think we should have some.”

Abioye didn’t want to admit that curiosity eventually got the best of him. He stood and walked over to peer into the cabinet. As she said she had a vast array of tea. Maliah watched his eyes relax as he reached out and lightly touched the boxes.

“You have quite a selection”. He pulled out some Malasi Chai Tea and handed it to her.

She accepted the box and took out two packs, “Eh, have you ever made tea before?”

Abioye slowly shook his head.

“You’ve never made tea?” Maliah asked.

“I always went and got some.”

“No, we can’t have this. It’s so simple it’s pitiful. We either microwave or do it on the stove. However unless I’m making a huge batch to store in the refrigerator, I don’t use the stove.” she said as she got two mugs out of another cabinet.

Then she pulled out her pitcher of water from the refrigerator, “Here…pour the water into the cup.”

Abioye raised an eyebrow and looked at the pitcher but after a moment he obliged and poured water in both cups.

“Now microwave it.” Maliah said before stopping once again, “Wait, have you ever used one before?”

Abioye shook his head.

“Alright, watch. I will do the first cup and you do the second.” said Maliah, putting the cup in the microwave before pressing the number five for it to automatically start at five minutes.

Abioye cocked his head, “You cannot put both cups in there at the same time?”

“No, you cannot. You can get a bigger cup or microwavable bowl to hold more water.”

“Interesting.”

Maliah peered at him, “You’ve really never used one before? Have you seen one before?”

Abioye folded his arms, “I have seen many things however I am not mortal so what would I need with such contraptions.”

Maliah nodded as the bell went off. Cautioning Abioye that it’s hot, she let him open the microwave door and take out the cup. With her saying anything else, Abioye picked up the second cup and put it into the microwave. Then he shut the door and pressed the number five.

“Ridiculously simple…..”,he murmured. Then he watched as Maliah opened the pack of tea before dropping the tea in the cup.

“That’s all?” Abioye asked skeptically.

Maliah shrugged, “Just let it brew a few minutes and then it’s ready to drink.”

A few minutes later had both of them sitting down and stirring their tea. Maliah liked honey and lemon in hers while Abioye liked it straight laced.

A nice silence fell over them and this time Maliah didn’t find it so bad.