Chapter 34: Breakfast
The next morning Freya and Xavier were enjoying some breakfast in the kitchen which had been prepared by Gary. As Freya was eating, she found herself surprised by how good the android was at making food.
She knew the android cooked well considering the former meals it had prepared for them. But it still boggled her mind that it was at the same level as a professional chef. She was almost jealous of its skill.
And a little sad that Xavier didn’t try much of the food. The snake beastman had told her that he wasn’t a breakfast person and was good just sipping on some black tea. It seemed like a bit of a waste to her when the food was delicious.
Nibbling on a piece of toast, Freya watched as Xavier brought his cup of tea to his lips. But midway he suddenly stopped and glanced over to the entrance of the kitchen for a moment.
He furrowed his eyebrows, forked tongue flickering out for a second, before he frowned, making Freya nervous. The last time he frowned like that at the kitchen entrance was when she met Ethan.
"Wilson..." Xavier called out. "What are you doing here?"
Freya watched as the younger snake beastman appeared at the doorway wearing some sweatpants and a tight fitting shirt. Her eyes then landed on the black, metal arm on his right side.
It made her curious why Wilson wasn’t wearing it yesterday. Surely, it would’ve made things easier for him. Or maybe he wasn’t comfortable wearing it. Some people did prefer not to use prostheses after all.
Wilson scratched the back of his head and sheepishly answered, "Well... I-I came to have... breakfast... Is it okay if I join?"
"I’m fine with it." Freya shrugged before taking a sip of her coffee. She then added, "Gary made more than enough food for everyone."
"Hmmm..." Xavier hummed out before going back to sipping his tea.
His eyes, however, did not leave his younger brother. Wilson gave them a wide grin before strode in and took a seat next to Freya. The action had Xavier narrowing his eyes, but he said nothing.
Instead, he put down his cup of tea before he pushed over a scramble eggs dish with bits of meat and vegetables in it over to Wilson. He then casually said, "Eat up. I know it’s your favorite."
"Thanks..." Wilson pursed his lips, but took the dish from Xavier. He then turned to Freya and asked, "Do... you want any?"
"Nope I’m good." Freya exclaimed, setting her mug of coffee down. "You can have it."
She wasn’t sure if Xavier was telling the truth about Wilson liking that scrambled eggs dish, but she also didn’t want to get in the middle of whatever these two were doing. The air between them was practically crackling with some weird tension.
With her words, Wilson took the dish before grabbing a fork lying on the table untouched. He then slowly began eating the eggs, occasionally poking at it with his fork. Xavier picked up his cup of tea and the room got even more awkward.
Freya sighed inwardly, wondering what was up with these two. She noticed Wilson was poking at the eggs again and realized he was moving the mushroom bits to the side.
Guess he doesn’t like them.... Freya mused to herself. Though it’s strange Xavier wouldn’t know that...
However, when she turned her gaze to Xavier, she spotted him trying to hide a small smile behind that cup of his. It then clicked. He’d done that purposely to mess with Wilson.
So much for being that loving older brother...
Turned out they too had an average normal sibling rivalry. But she supposed it was better than them trying to go for each other’s throats.
Xavier suddenly put his cup of tea down and said, "We should probably do introductions seeing as yesterday.... well, didn’t work out."
Freya felt it was a little late for that considering how they had technically met and knew a bit about each other, but she decided it was not worth the argument.
"Oh right!" Wilson exclaimed, putting down his fork. He then turned to Freya and rambled, "I’m Wilson of the Snake Clan and am currently twenty-two-"
"Twenty-two?" Freya gasped.
Her brain then recalled that Xavier had said Wilson was twelve when that incident had happened. Meaning there was a four year age gap between them. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t connected the dots.
"Eh... yes..." Wilson cringed. "Is that... a problem?"
"No!" Freya quickly answered. She then clarified, "I-I"m more surprised than anything... Didn’t think you’d be younger than me for some reason..."
"Oh..." Wilson went quiet.
"Anyway..." Freya coughed, trying to dispel the awkwardness she just created. "I’m Freya and am twenty-four."
She decided not to do that whole clan thing because honestly she wasn’t even sure what to say. Maybe human, but that would just lead down a path she didn’t want to go.
Damn Beast God messing with her life again....
"Two years..." Wilson murmured under his breath, earning a strange look from both Freya and Xavier.
"So Wilson... Do you have an ability like your brothers?" Freya asked, partly out of curiosity.
And partly so she knew what to look out for. Wilson may seem nice, but she wasn’t going to make the mistake of not checking if he had an ability or not.
What she didn’t expect was for him to stiffen up and go even paler before answering, "I-I do..."
"He doesn’t use his ability though." Xavier suddenly said. "Anyway, we should probably get moving... Don’t want to be late for our meeting with General Markson and his wife."
"Oh right." Freya nodded her head in understanding.
The bear beastman had invited them over the phone last night and Freya had agreed to the meet up. It would be good to meet other beastwomen.
However, it didn’t invade her notice that Xavier was trying to change the ability topic by bringing it up. It made her curious as to why, but considering how Wilson acted, she decided not to ask.
Instead she just said, "Let me just finish my coffee and freshen up. Then we can go."