-One week later-
Jakery walked through the misty morning roads of the city, each step felt like its own lullaby in his head. Everything felt calming, even the weird things.
Such as armorless warriors who enjoyed time with their families or hobbies. He even saw a group of shirtless Zegi test each other's grit through fighting, one of their favorite past-times.
Everything felt odd as it was already, Oria did not wake him up with her chirping for the seventh day in a row. However, he did hold great news for his brother. All that was left was to find him.
When he crossed in front of the pens near the outskirts, he found where Ether was. He was hard at work snipping away wool off the Eteni.
A whole mob of them swarmed the lonely Zesher, impatiently waiting for him to free them of their woolen coats. However, he could not go fast unless he wanted to make some mistakes.
"Good morning!" Jakery said while hopping over the fence. "Oodii Eetheeer!!" he perfectly mimicked a Yonie's gentle voice.
In response, his brother lifted his head from his work. Hearing Jakery call him adorable was the first time he had ever heard that.
"Why are you calling me that?"
Jakery laughed. "This morning, before I left, I came into your room to see if you were awake. Then I realized you looked surprisingly huggable when you're asleep. Maybe you should offer cuddles for others. One-night stay!"
Ether loudly cleared his throat. "Yeah - yeah, except it will look like I've slept with every single Zegi in this city. And you know how the males get when someone threatens their ability to reproduce."
"That's true, you might be overthrown or probably neutered," Jakery fell silent.
He watched his brother snip away at the Eteni's club-like tail, cutting off all the wool he could to make sure the remaining pieces of armor were ready to go.
Once he was done, Ether picked all the wool and stuffed it into sacks. Jakery wondered how warm one could get if they slept in the center of it.
"Want to help? I got a few more to go," Ether asked.
Jakery nodded, cheerfully picking up a nearby pair of special scissors designed for this and promptly got to work on a different Eteni's front leg. The sound of cutting wool nearly made him forget why he was there.
Realization and excitement struck him, causing him to turn around to face his brother. Who snipped away just like him. Jakery took a deep breath to contain his excitement, then he spoke.
"I have amazing news!" he said, while trying to hold a smile.
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Your girlfriend woke up today," Jakery caved in and smiled wide. "She is recovering as we speak."
There was a moment of light tension in the air as Ether processed it. On one hand, he was feeling happy that she was awake again. But on the other, he disliked how Jakery said they were a thing.
"She is not my girlfriend, I do not like her romantically," Ether did not sound as excited as Jakery hoped for.
Jakery watched him pick up some more wool and fill the last sack with it, then walked over to a nearby cart where he placed it. He stretched, feeling the morning breeze on his soft skin.
He quickly got up from his Eteni, completely forgetting the wool left on the floor. Before Ether could walk away with the large wooden cart, he hopped in it.
The added weight barely affected the amount of effort he had to put in it. Which impressed Jakery how strong his older brother really was. He pushed the whole thing across the city where the Armory was.
A street decorated with metal shops. Chimneys were alive as steam escaped through, being swept away by the stale winds. Jakery sat in silence as he watched from his seat.
Ether yawned, the cart came to a stop right in front of the first shop. He turned to face the cart and took out two sacks, then carried them over to the door.
Jakery awed at how easy it looked, so he decided to help. But he could not lift up one bag without burning out all his strength. Something his sibling noticed when he came back.
"Funny how much it truly weighs, huh? Your body just needs to develop a bit more, there's some chemicals it needs to produce before you can be as strong as me," he explained.
Before Jakery could respond, Ether picked up two more sacks and carried them to another shop. Leaving him amazed at how strong he was going to become after reaching a certain point in his life.
Instead of helping, he decided to do something else. Jakery hummed to himself, a happy melody Demon used to hum to him when they were younger.
Every part of it flowed out of his throat effortlessly, almost like he had been practicing it for all his life. With every tune he hit, the city kids would stop by and listen in.
Despite the familiar music, Ether continued to do his job normally. Picking up the bags and bringing them to shops until there were none left.
When he was done, Jakery watched him rest his chin over his forearm while staring at distant flames dance in one of the shops. Something about his brother's sweaty appearance seemed off.
However, he already knew what it was. Throughout all the years, he had never seen Ether so keen on something. Even his training under Valentine's law was not that perfect.
But now he was getting it done without a second thought, going from shop to shop two bags in both arms as he delivered them. Even pushing a large cart designed for a beast to carry without a care.
Jakery smiled, planting his palm over Ether's head. "Abba, abba. Ti nitu. (Pat, pat. Good little one.)"
Ether chuckled. "Abba, abba, odi Oria, ahm. (Pat, pat, adorable Oria, soon.)"
Hearing that comment brought confusion back into Jakery's mind, there was no reason why his older brother was so interested in Oria unless he was romantically into her.
But every time when asked, he would deny it. Jakery and Valentine knew there was more to it than just affectionate actions and tender care.
Yet they could only wait and see what the future between the two Variants had in store.