Lily’s eyes flickered over towards Finn as he took up a seat at the table, lingering there as Alma answered Callisto’s pressing question. Then as he slipped into the conversation, she peered down at the bowl that Alma was placing in front of her, offering a thankful smile towards her.

Callisto’s nose scrunched up as Finn began listing all the possible ways that Xevon may have been injured, obviously he had not undergone all of these, but still some of them made his skin prickle. In silence he turned back to his bowl, unblinking. Until Alma piped up to change the direction of the conversation.

“Interesting.” He mumbled slightly before looking up. “More effective than relaxing, I can see the appeal.” Callisto took a side long glance towards the younger pair at the table, noting the remaining colour that was spread over Lily’s face. Deciding he would rather move the topic away from himself, he lifted his fork delicately and gave a small flick of it towards the duo.

“How did you two sleep? Cozy enough?” He hummed, keeping his voice light and casual knowing that at least one of them would stumble out an answer.

Lily had lifted her fork just past the rim of the bowl as Callisto spoke, her dark eyes snapped up to his, flashing with surprise at the question. He was such a pot stirrer.

“What?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. “You both looked like death this morning and now you are prancing around the place.”

Lily felt a major wave of relief as Finntello managed to wiggle his way around the question with a decent enough explanation. Feeling quite satisfied with his response, she went to nod in agreement when Alma piped up. Immediately, Lily’s eyes shot in her direction and a shaky short laugh came from her, about to attempt denial when it continued.

Her face felt like it was about to ignite with how hot it was, beside her she could feel Finn’s form just as tense as she was. And he was the one that said he wanted to avoid this, kissing her in the same room as them. She dared a short glance towards Finn who was head down and scrunching his features slightly.

There wasn’t much she could say to that observation that Alma had spilled into words. Instead, Lily slowly began to chew on a mouthful of food and stared down at her meal.

“A what-, kiss?” Callisto raised an eyebrow quickly, looking to Alma for confirmation before he returned his focus to the blushing pair opposite. “Oh my.” He chuckled out, leaning his head to one side.

“Although, you should have seen them in the hotel.” Callisto mused as Lily let out a short grumble of irritation. “In saying that, I did not think they would cross that line this quickly. They danced around each other like nervous fawns.” His lips had split into a smile, giving Alma a glance at the end of his sentence.

Lily squished her lips together into a thin line. This day could not have turned out any more obscure if it had tried, and she hadn’t even gotten to the part where she had to stab herself yet.

Callisto’s eyebrows shot up at the returned barbed comment, for a second his eyes narrowed before he thought better about what he was about to say. He lifted another mouthful and chewed as he listened carefully. Alma was right, the mere idea of being seen with, let alone in love, with another man would have ended rather gravely for Callisto. As for Xevon, he wasn’t sure about the ideas surrounding that topic, it was beyond his scope.

That and they were dead, was there a point to furthering a feeling when in a matter of moments the other person could be taken? The lantern suddenly deciding it, in fact, did want one of them. Or that Veles could find a way to devour their souls without the lantern. Too many factors to take into consideration.

Lily peered up at Alma, catching her eyes as she commanded rather than asked them to get some more rest. It would be the smart thing to do, it wasn’t as though they had managed more than a handful of hours of rest in the living room. She gave a small nod, remaining quiet, a little more huddled up to herself than usual.

It wasn’t the idea of being caught out, it was the fact that Alma had seen it. It felt like being a teenager caught giggling over their crush’s notes or her father walking in on her and a boy watching a movie together. It was simply embarrassing.

Callisto finally let out a soft sigh, releasing the desire to snap back at Finntello. “Xevon and I’s situation is a little more complicated, nuanced.” He idly added, placing his fork gently into the empty bowl. “We were dead, so what would be the point?” Callisto shrugged gently. “I do not care what becomes of whatever mess we had, I just want him free of that place. He does not deserve to be there."

Callisto’s casual stretch backwards was interrupted by Finn, he peered over at him, half reclined in his chair. Frankly, the assumption that Callisto only cared about the physical side of a relationship made his skin crawl. He craved touch, that was a given, after so many years it was like crystal clean water after being stranded on a desert island. But, if he had to trade that and any inkling of a future with Xevon in order to get him out of that hotel, he would do it in a heartbeat.

It was easy enough to say the past is the past, things took time to figure out. They had endless time in there, but here their lives were suddenly on a timer again. Perhaps that would encourage something, but for once he agreed with Finn. They had to get him out first.

His response was a simple stare before his eyes were drawn to Alma as she questioned him. “I have never attempted to go up there, however I would assume you could reach the top floor.” He pondered, taking a moment to think before confirming. “Yes, I believe it would lead there.”

Lily had been staring after Finn once he had stood up, given the fact his spiel had been particularly passionate. She couldn’t help but wonder what if anything had made him so surprised by Callisto’s comment. She could understand enough, the feeling of hopelessness that they must hold. Both sides had reasonable outlooks.

Carefully, she rose to her feet after her bowl had been collected and pushed her chair into the table gently. “You think we can, uhm,” Lily had to clear her throat, still trying to get over the fact that Alma had read her and Finn like an open book. “We can use those stairs to surprise him?” She tried to push herself away from the previous conversation, it was making her chest tighten and certainly wasn’t helping with the fading colour of her face.

Lily nodded her head along with the plan as she listened. It seemed sound. If they could face the complication of Veles first, that would be ideal. In the case that Xevon was too far out of his own mind to help them and the worst outcome wanting to fight them, they could handle it without the impending threat of Veles around every corner.

Callisto scrunched his nose briefly before sighing. “I think it is going to be the best plan we can make. Though, I doubt Veles will make it easy to carry out.” He warned calmly. It was in the god’s nature to meddle, to ruin plans and especially plans of escape. In fact, it was his speciality.

Lily glanced over her shoulder as Finn had perched himself on the bed once again but she couldn’t bring herself to walk over there with all four of them in the same room just yet. The mention of the hallway had drew a feeling of dread in her body, the smashed furniture and the terror in Finntello’s face when they finally made it to a safe room. Begging for her not to ever look at the creature with wide eyes, throwing a barricade at the already locked door in his panic.

“Veles will not be happy.” Callisto lifted himself up from his chair with a stretch of his arms, extending them in front of himself with interlaced fingers. “The second he realises we are there, most of the plan will fall apart. I hate to be saying that, but it is true. Unless we have some kind of plan for if that happens.”