Blessed by Night

325  Failed Experiments

Five hours and an ungodly amount of sweat later, Malachi had done it.

An entire feast now lay out in front of him; unequaled in it's steamy splendor and surefire road to weight gain.

Arias and Morgan were almost completely broken down.

Everything from the yams, to the collard greens, to the baked Mac and cheese, to the golden fried chicken was too powerful for them to fight against.

The pair stuffed themselves to the point of comedic exhaustion.

They had no idea how it happened!

At one point they were just eating, and eating, and eating without a care in the world.

But before they'd noticed it, they'd unbuckled their pants and a fit of narcolepsy had snuck up on them like an unplanned pregnancy.

It was doubly surprising for Arias, who was functionally nothing but pure energy.

And yet, the itis proved itself undefeated in it's conquest of Avatars too.

Morgan had even called his wives over for help in this great battle. The weaklings were defeated after one plate.

The elevator door dinged for the first time in a while, and the rest of Mal's finances arrived to immediate elation.

"Sunday dinner on a Thursday??? Nice!" Anna rubbed her hands in excitement.

"What's the occasion?" Nadine asked- already not caring one way or the other.

Bianca was helping Camille eat her vegetables and giving her face a series of necessary wipes.

"Spite, babes... The answer is spite."

To understand what she meant, the girls found Malachi sanding over the occupants of the dining room table; a clear air of superiority hovering around him.

"You want my opinion? Spite is delicious!" Serana was currently waiting for the cake to cool so that it could be frosted and served. Her meal just wouldn't be complete without it.

Morgan lifted his head up wearily. "Unbelievable... You all eat like this every Sunday..? How are you all not over three hundred pounds by now..?"

Anna humped the air in a crude gesture to answer his question.

"Right.. of course that's your method for it..."

A fist slammed on the table as Arias struggled to lift his head.

"I'm not... done... yet..! I still have more space to fill."

Morgan's face paled. "What are you doing, man?! Stop this madness! Just admit that our presumptions were wrong and stop eating before your stomach bursts!"

"B-Be quiet, Morgan! I am the proud son of the day goddess Hemera, one of the oldest deities to ever draw breath! I cannot and will not be bested by meat, starches, and vegetables!" Arias snapped back.

"They aren't just regular meats and starches! This mad man has done something to them!"

The aforementioned mad-man finally began icing a three layered red velvet cake before cutting into it like a scene from a famous food anime.

"Nah, he says he's good, right..? Let him try a little of this before he throws in the towel..."

They could not control all of the emotions that they were feeling at once.

Terror. Desire. Mild and confusing sexual arousal…

And the cause of it all was sitting right here on a plate in front of him.

All that Arias had to do was be courageous enough to take it…

But Morgan was still trying to dissuade him. "Don't do this, lad. You've already proven yourself more than enough, so-"

"Q-Quiet, Morgan… no matter what I do, I have to show him… that I ain't no bitch..!"

Arias snatched away the hunk of desert and picked up his discarded fork like an old weapon used in battle.

Ignoring all of his instincts telling him not to do it, he dove in for the single greatest fight of his life.

- 3 Minutes later…

"Dread it... run from it... the itis arrives all the same." Mal said in an unusually deep voice. He was standing over four fully grown adults asleep facedown at his dining room table. The moral superiority he felt from upholding the incontestable glory of southern cuisine was unmatched. "I have to ask... Was it really all worth it?" Joanne asked.

Malachi looked down at himself. He was covered in sweat and smelled of cooking oil and a variety of seasonings. "...Yes." He nodded without hesitation. "You are unbelievable." She snickered. Malachi helped move all of their dinner guests to the couch while they slept off the most succulent meal they had ever had in their life. With them down for the count, he was finally able to sit and have a proper meal with all of his friends and family. "So... How did you guys end up like this in the first place..? Not that I'm complaining, of course." Anna had assembled an absolutely ungodly plate, and she was barely coming up for air as she ate. "This was supposed to be a lunch meeting, but your fiancé got pissy when Arias brought over take out from a place up the street." Aisha answered. "Sounds about right." All the girls said at once. Malachi just shrugged innocently as if he hadn't done anything wrong. "Not like I can't figure out what it was going to be about anyway." Mal held out his hand and the satchel that Arias brought over came flying into his hand. Opening it up, he pulled out a manilla folder and flipped it open to the first document inside. Reading along the lines, his expression quickly turned sour. "Something the matter, babe..?" Nadine asked worriedly. "The, umm... favor I asked for from Arias. The labs are saying they can't do it with the parameters they've been given." n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The mood at the table suddenly became depressive; confusing Camille. Malachi and Morgan never agreed to work with Arias for free. Both were paid a salary, and were allowed to ask for at least one favor. Mal asked that Arias use his resources to help find a way to help the blessed keep their powers permanently. So that the gods would not punish those who called themselves his allies. And so that they could hopefully not take his powers. But science.. just hadn't advanced the far yet. Especially since there were extreme regulations against experimenting on blessed. There was just no way to get things done in the timeframe that Mal had specified. So as of right now... Malachi was without hope and was slowly creeping toward extinction. Honestly... This day wasn't going anywhere like he'd hoped. He tried not to show it to the girls, but he was incredibly dejected.

But he was in for the surprise of his life, when familiar faces suddenly arrived to turn his mood upside down.

"Have we… come at a bad time?" happy to announce I’ll be back with regular uploads starting tomorrow. thank you all for your patience!

AnathaShesha