A Kink in the Tail

Chapter 41 - Goodbye.

AA Milne quote:-   "How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

Cyrus, Barnes, and Santo all stopped yelling when they saw their faces. Lewis who had been sitting quietly, tilted his head and assessed the situation. It was comical.  Lycan and human alike couldn't miss that Constantine and Shaun were both angry.  Constantine glared at them, turned tail, and walked back out of the apartment. Shaun stalked off into the bedroom looking very unlike his usual cheery self. Thanks to vast amounts of alcohol, good food, and strangely excellent company the three went on chatting amongst themselves without taking much notice. Lewis sniffed the air, smiled to himself, and turned his attention back to his team. Santo made a joke about it being a lover's tiff and Lewis suspected he wasn't far off the mark.

A full belly and several beers turned Cyrus into a giggling mess. Lewis, on the other hand, sitting opposite him, was still as neat as a pin in his white unwrinkled shirt and tie. When Cyrus looked in his direction he had a strong urge to ruffle his hair or twist his tie pin so it sat askew...something to make him look less...him. But he controlled himself having learned from past experience that he was a bad drunk, not the sort to be violent or aggressive, he was an emotional drunk.  He knew himself well enough to know he went through stages, first off everything was funny and he liked to get into everyone's face. Drunk or sober socialising with any species wasn't his forte. He tended to make an arse of himself both ways.

Sitting with this unlikely group, however, he was for the first time in a long LONG while relaxed. He wasn't overthinking the situation or dissecting facial expressions, he was just having fun. All day, whether it was with Shaun watching stupid zombie movies or having dinner with surprisingly funny Lycans he was comfortable in their company.

Cyrus downed another stubby as Barnes started one of his impromptu lectures on the superiority of Lycan auditory and olfactory senses compared to human.  He was compelled to interrupt declaring loudly that he could hear him perfectly and wished he didn't. Santo laughed until he rolled over on the couch holding his stomach. Lewis allowed himself a small grin. Barnes continued without batting an eye.

Over the banter, Cyrus heard his Game of Thrones ringtone go off somewhere in the room and went in search of it. Finally finding it he walked into the relative quiet of the kitchen.

He didn't recognise the number. 

"Hello.", said a deep voice. He instantly recognised Theodore. 

"It's me. It's over. You're safe. Fischer and Constantine don't have to worry about Thanos anymore. Goodbye, Cyrus."

"What? What's happened?" Theodore hung up without answering Cyrus. He had sounded normal but the call left Cyrus feeling like someone punched him in the stomach. He wasn't a huge fan of Theodore's but he did see something in him that was salvageable.  He'd glimpsed a warped sense of honour, a deep well of regret and sadness before they'd parted ways.

Cyrus walked out of the kitchen and stopped in the middle of the room staring at the black phone screen. Even the least psychic human on the planet would have said that the call felt ominous. There was a horrible sense of finality about it. Everyone turned to look at him. The fun Cyrus was gone.  The room went quiet.

Lewis who had been sitting back in the armchair, slowly stood up and walked towards him. He saw the boy was suddenly badly shaken. "What is it? Bad news?"

"Depends on how you look at it I suppose."  Cyrus's brain was whirring, creating a long list of scenarios to fit the call.  "Good news I suppose."  He mumbled to himself.  "Possibly the worst news.'