Felicity's Beas Chapter 169: Welcome Brothers

Chapter 169: Welco Brothers

Kai got there first, because of course he did. He angled toward Dawn, Thane, and Exile with the expression of a missionary who had waited years for the right audience. "There it is," he said. "I knew it. Welco, brothers, to the Light Church."

Pope, who had the instincts of a man absolutely unsuited to making things better, drifted in beside him and looked between them with open interest. "He’s right. You’ve got the face."

Dawn’s eyes narrowed. "What face."

Ash appeared on the other side as silent as shadow and twice as pleased with himself. "The one that says your life was easier before you t her."

Sam landed lightly nearby, folding his wings in with irritating calm. "That’s usually the first symptom."

Thane actually blinked at that. "symptom."

Kai nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, then cos the awareness, then the reorientation, then the acceptance."

"Then the collapse," Pope added.

Ash tilted his head. "The emotional one, not the societal one. That already happened."

Exile stared at them like they were beneath contempt and sohow still useful. "You’re all deeply irritating."

Kai grinned. "That’s the spirit!"

awn, anwhile, kept his gaze on Felicity. "Why is she smiling like that."

Pope followed the line of sight and softened despite himself. "Because she’s about to feed everyone."

"That doesn’t explain anything," Dawn said.

"It explains everything," Sam murmured.

Exile did not engage again because engaging would have ant dividing his attention, and every part of him was fixed on the sa point now. She had moved closer to the fire, Victor had stepped aside just enough to let her direct people Lucan was still near Ivan was near and Voss was watching, Damien had gone quiet in that specific way he did when he had decided not to fight a losing emotional battle and would instead sharpen himself into usefulness.

Tommy, carrying a tray badly, asked, "Where does this go, wife of my heart?"

Felicity looked at him, smiled in full bright innocence, and pointed. "Near the mushrooms."

Tommy obeyed imdiately.

Sarge watched that happen and muttered, "Tragic."

"Speak for yourself," Tommy said. "I’m thriving."

At the edge of the firelight, Voss had ended up chatting with Richard more easily than anyone might have predicted, mostly because both n had the sa tolerance for competence and the sa ability to say very little while still asuring each other. Victor spoke with Dimitri in lower tones just beyond them, the conversation clearly tactical on the surface and absolutely not limited to tactics underneath.

Which left the others fragnted Dawn stood near enough to the food circle to be included and far enough to pretend he had options.

Thane hovered between listening and seeing.

Exile had not yet decided whether sitting down would help or make this worse.

Snow Team’s more irritating evangelists sensed weakness and exploited it rcilessly.

Kai nodded toward the fire, where Felicity was now crouched near Luna and Frost, both cubs wriggling against her as she kissed each fuzzy head. "observe," he said. "And tell

this isn’t religion."

Frost had rolled halfway into her lap and was being held one ard while she tried to hand chopsticks to Victor with her free hand. Luna had climbed up her side like a determined little nace and wrapped herself against Felicity’s shoulder, earning another kiss and a soft laugh.

Dawn watched in silence.

Thane said, very quietly, "This is worse than I thought."

Pope leaned in. "You say worse. I say clearer."

Exile’s entire body had gone still again, because the problem was no longer scent or theory or frustration. The problem was that he had now seen her happy, seen the way she fit into a campfire circle full of dangerous n and sohow made them look less monstrous simply by smiling and making them carry plates. he understood, in a way that hurt, why Lucan had not waited. He understood why Snow Team had let it happen even while being furious at the details. He understood why Dimitri’s calculations had started failing at the edges. He understood too much, too quickly, and it made the restraint of his own body feel like a punishnt.

Across the fire pit, Felicity laughed at sothing Sarge said and looked up at exactly the wrong mont, catching Leaf Team still watching her, the smile she gave them was smaller than before, this ti softer and for one split second, Dimitri saw all three outcos at once, let this proceed gently and lose control by inches, pull back and watch fixation deepen in absence, or keep moving exactly as they were and trust structure to survive the pressure.

Victor must have reached a similar conclusion at the sa ti, because when his eyes t Dimitri’s across the smoke and heat, neither man looked surprised by the other’s concern.

Felicity, oblivious, held up a plate. "Who wants the first batch?"

That was when Dimitri understood with unpleasant clarity that this dinner was not going to calm anything at all.

"Okay no, no, no," she said, waving one hand dismissively as Voss stepped closer. "You can help over there, I’ve got this."

"You definitely don’t," Voss replied mildly.

"I do," she insisted, already crouching near the grill, sleeves tied tight across her chest, Victor’s shirt slipping just slightly off one shoulder before she adjusted it without thinking. "You can plate things that’s important, very important."

"That sounds like a demotion," he said.

"It is," she said brightly.

Damien huffed sothing that might have been a laugh as he stepped back instead of arguing, Ivan following a second later after setting down another tray, both of them watching her take over with the sa quiet acceptance they had learned the hard way was easier than trying to stop her.

Lucan did not move far.

He remained behind her, close enough that the line of his body almost shadowed hers, one hand resting lightly at her shoulder, not restraining, not guiding, just there, a point of contact that said more than anything else in the space. His presence settled around her like sothing claid, his gaze half lidded but sharp beneath it, tracking everything without urgency because he had already made his position clear.

The first batch of beef hit the grill with a sharp hiss, the sll rising imdiately, rich and mouthwatering in a way that cut straight through tension and replaced it with sothing far more dangerous: comfort.

"Oh that slls insane," Tommy said from sowhere too close.

"Back," she said without looking, pointing vaguely behind her.

Tommy actually stepped back.

Sarge stared at him. "You’re unbelievable."

"I’m adaptable," Tommy said Proudly.

"Not if you rely on it," Richard muttered under his breath from nearby, and for a brief second Sarge choked on a laugh.

Felicity worked quickly, turning the at with more confidence than technique, humming under her breath as she moved, occasionally brushing hair out of her face with the back of her wrist, completely absorbed in what she was doing, when the first batch was done, she didn’t hesitate.

She grabbed a plate, piled it high, and turned "for you," she said, holding it out toward her husbands.

That was when the problem started, because all of them reached. Not aggressively, not even obviously at first, but enough that the movent overlapped, that the air shifted, that sothing unspoken passed between them as each man calculated the sa thing at the sa ti.

Feeding her.

Ivan moved first it wasn’t rushed, wasn’t forceful, just... inevitable. His hand closed around a piece of at before the others fully committed, and he stepped into her space with the quiet certainty of a man who did not question his place in it. His other hand ca up briefly to steady her wrist, not because she needed it, but because he wanted the contact, and then he lifted the piece toward her mouth.

Felicity blinked then smiled and leaned forward "Ahhh" she took the bite easily, chewing with imdiate approval, her eyes lighting up as the flavor hit.

"Yummy," she said, completely unguarded, voice soft and pleased in a way that landed harder than anything else she had done.

A silent war had broken out over the husbands, not full silence, but the kind where every man present had heard it and reacted to it differently.

Voss exhaled slowly through his nose.

Damien looked away for a second, then back.

Victor’s gaze lingered on Ivan just a fraction longer than necessary.

Lucan’s hand on her shoulder tightened.

Dimitri spoke into that space, his voice cutting through without raising.

"How..." he asked, his pale gaze settling on Felicity, "do you have access to this."

Fresh at, clean cuts, variety, veggies, drinks, plates, everything, preparation, all of it implied supplies, carts, that did not exist easily anymore, not at this scale, not with this consistency.

Felicity didn’t hesitate.

"Oh," she said lightly, already turning back toward the grill. "Victor has it in his space."

Dimitri’s gaze moved to him.

Victor held it and neither of her husband’s corrected her.