Blessed by Night

"Remember, little sis. Men are trash. They lead you on, say that they like you and then leave you in the dirt as soon as the mood strikes them."

Camille nodded like she was listening to this harder than anything else she had ever heard in her entire life.

*Smack!*

"Ow!! Why?!"

Serana rubbed the side of her head as she looked at the only other occupant of the couch.

Even though she was still only within her early twenties, Bianca had developed the figure of a mature, shapely woman.

She wore a pair of smart black pants and buttoned down shirt. Though since she was done with work for the day, the first three or four buttons of her shirt had already been undone.

Serana was trying her best not to stare, but politeness was never really her strong suit.

How was it that her literal

mother

was having a more fulfilling sex life at night than she was?!

"Don't start filling your sister's head with all of this nonsense. She listens to the things you say a lot more than you realize." Bianca scolded.

"And what could possibly be the issue with that?" Serena raised a brow.

*Ding!*

The elevator to their penthouse suddenly opened and Malachi stepped inside; already yawning.

"Bah!"

"Who are you calling trash!?"

Bianca gave Serana an 'I told you so' look that caused her to slink down into the sofa.

Shaking her head, she stood up from the sofa and walked over to Malachi at the door.

Serana wasn't the only one to notice how good she looked, and Malachi was much less subtle in expressing his attraction.

"Booo!!!!!"

Jeers of annoyance left Serena's mouth as she watched the two embrace each other.

Their kissing was interrupted once she started hurling pillows at them in anger.

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And of course, little Camille joined in too.

Though in all honesty, the little one was only upset because she wasn't getting any affection for a change.

Bianca finally pulled herself away and got a good glimpse at Malachi's new burn scars.

"That looks like it hurts... Are you okay?"

"Aww, you don't need to worry about little 'ole me. Besides, you should see the other guy."

Bianca smiled wryly. "Serana was just telling us about your mission... Sorry that it was a bust."

Malachi kissed her on top of her head and pulled her back into his arms. It's true that things didn't really go their way today, but it was hard to call it a loss.

Everyone made it home to their families at the end.

No one was seriously injured.

They hadn't lost anything but time.

And for now, at least, they had a little bit to spare.

Besides...

"It wasn't all bad... Once we searched the caravan, we did find a few prisoners inside... Just a lot less than we were expecting. But if we got even one person out, it's a good thing."

Bianca stared at her fiance proudly. Honestly, she wasn't sure how this whole new working arrangement was going to go for any of them.

But Malachi, and the others, seemed to be genuinely comfortable here. And they were doing good work to help people instead of hiding away in their own personal corner of the world.

And the one gripe Bianca did have... She couldn't really say that it was wholly anyone's fault.

*Ding!*

Bianca and Malachi turned around in confusion.

Morgan, Arias, and Aisha were packed together in the elevator.

"Malachi... I just wanted to express my sincerest apologies for- Pffft.. Hahahaha!! You look like you've been laying down on a 'George Foreman'!" Arias cackled.

Once he started, the other two guests couldn't help but chuckle as well.

Malachi felt a vein bulge in his head.

"...What the fuck are y'all doing in my house?"

Arias stood up- wiping his eyes of tears. "We have a lunch meeting scheduled for today, remember? Since it's my fault for insulting you I decided to buy today. Aren't you lucky?"

Malachi finally noticed the plastic bags of food that the trio were carrying- as well as the jugs of yellow and brown beverages.

With his extremely enhanced senses, all he had to do was sniff the air to know what was inside.

"...You didn't."

Arias smiled evilly.

Aisha looked ashamed.

Morgan looked like he already knew what was about to happen.

Bianca just dropped her head and started heading towards the kitchen for tableware.

- 6 Minutes Later

Mal: "On my mother's grave I'm resisting the urge to smack the shit out of you right now."

Arias: "You're being overdramatic, Uncle. The place has got some really great ratings."

Mal: "I don't give a fuck about the ratings! This ain't real southern soul food!"

Aisha / Serana: "Preach."

Morgan: "I don't really get it… What exactly is the issue?"

Mal: "I am so glad you asked..."

Bianca just sighed to herself as she continued to break apart pieces of food on her plate and feed it to Cami.

Malachi used his fork to point to individual items on the plate.

"Look at these collard greens. They ain't been cooked in ham hocks, bacon grease, turkey legs, nothing! Just lazy as shit!"

"There's lemon and red pepper flakes though?"

"...Arias, don't fucking play with me right now or I will turn every building in New York upside down."

"Touchy..."

Malachi wasn't done, and he had much more to complain about.

"And this cornbread? Ass. Cornbread is supposed to be mildly sweet like a pre-dessert, and brushed lightly with butter after cooking to keep it moist. Why the hell is this bitter and dry!?

And don't get me started on this poor excuse for chicken. They couldn't even cook this right!"

"Oh, come on, Mal. This isn't even bad." Morgan sighed.

Malachi picked up a piece of 'chicken' in true disgust.

"Morgan... This is some fast food shit. You don't just deep fry chicken in oil and call it southern."

"Then how else are you supposed to cook fried chicken??"

Malachi / Bianca: "Cast iron and margarine."

"Margarine? Isn't that really bad for-"

"Southern cooking is about being here for a good time, not a long time." Mal said firmly.

Arias shook his head as he passed a new silver tray down the table. "You're being pretentious, this is good food. Here, just try some of this."

Malachi stared into the dish suspiciously. His anger already threatening to get the better of him.

"…What the hell is this?"

"Macaroni and cheese."

"I think the hell not. What is the grainy shit on top supposed to be?"

"Bread crumbs!"

"..."

Malachi snapped his fingers and everything on the table fell into an infinite black void.

He stood up from the dining table and strode straight into the kitchen, where he began aggressively pulling ingredients out of the fridge.

Arias smiled in satisfaction as he leaned back in his chair- his smug look catching Morgan's notice instantly.

"This was your goal from the beginning, wasn't it..?"

"Whattt..? Nooo... I wouldn't possibly do this just to.." he suddenly paused and turned to the kitchen. "Hey Mal, just curious: are we getting red velvet cake too?"

"Shut the fuck up, Arias." Mal pulled down flour and cocoa powder from the cabinet in an angry huff.

Arias smiled so big that his lips practically stretched off his face- giving Morgan his earlier answer without even saying anything.

"You must know we don't have the time for this.." He whispered in a hiss.

"I sent out a text earlier and cleared our schedules for today." Arias whispered back.

"..." Morgan was very conflicted over how he should have felt about this.

But as he watched Malachi angrily wash collard greens, he also began to feel like maybe what he'd had didn't quite hit the soulful spot.

...He would keep quiet about this act of treachery just this one time.

Bianca sighed as she passed Camille over to her Aunt Aisha. She then stood up and began washing her hands to get ready to act as a sexy souś chef.

So far, their new working arrangements were working out pretty well for the Saint family.

The only persistent issue? Malachi's culture shock from moving out of the Deep South into the North East.

As of right now, it seemed like this issue was going to last... forever.