S'Agapo

I was about to fall asleep. It was first period English. I was about to fall asleep.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door."Come on in!" The door opened and a really familiar looking guy came in. He had mismatched eyes and dusty brown hair. He smiled and I noticed oddly sharp canines. "Hi, I just transferred. Name's Eurycid Bane. But everyone calls me Bane."

I blinked and stared at him. The teacher nodded. "Well, I'm sure Greece will miss you, Eurycid. So, who would like to help show Mr. Bane around the school for the day? Hm..." She quickly looked something up on the computer.

"Laurel, you can do it! Bane and you both have the same classes. Just go on and sit next to her; raise your hand Laurel."

Bane turned and saw me. I noticed the recognition in his eyes and waved. "Laurel!"

I blinked and Bane was in front of me, delivering a bone-crushing hug. "Bane, chill out!"

He let go. "Sorry." He blushed.

"How did you get back to this?" I asked, motioning towards his face.

"I dunno." He looked around and saw Apollo. He was glaring at Bane. 'Weird.' "His dad came down and said I had served enough time or something and here I am!"

"But, I expected you to be older, I mean, you were married!"

"Well, that was a long time ago, people got married at a younger age back then, don't you know?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but you should be an old man, right?"

"Nope, He restored me to what I looked like before it all happened." Bane grinned. "I'm glad were in the same classes!" he looked like an over-enthusiastic puppy. I feared he might wet himself. Apollo frowned, his eyebrows furrowed together.

"Well, you guys sure are close."

I blinked and looked around. The whole class was looking at us. "Ahem. So, shall we continue with class?" The teacher said.

After classes, Bane followed Apollo and me to my car. I stopped in front of it and asked, "Why are you following me Bane?"

"I live with you, of course."

"What?" Apollo and I stared at each other. I knew what Apollo was going to say, so I said it too, with less enthusiasm: "Jinx. If you add anything after that, I'll kill you Apollo."

He shut his mouth. Bane grinned. "Zeus said that you were going to take care of me until I got my affairs in order. He gave me all new birth certificates and stuff."

I blinked. "Wow, he's all set with this stuff. Did he do all that for you too, Apollo?"

Apollo nodded. "Obviously."

"Huh." I turned to get into the car and Bane followed. I sighed. "What am I, a foster home for gods and magical creatures?"

"I'm a human!"

"Yeah, but you're over two thousand years old, yeah?"

"Yeah."

At home, I opened the other guest room and showed Bane how everything worked (all the electronics and things). Dinner was unusually quiet. Every time I would try to start a conversation with Apollo, he would give me a short, curt answer, and Bane would careen off into some wild story that I had no interest in. I didn't mean to be rude, but Bane just wasn't what I had expected. He was sweet, and his heart was in the right place, but I had no idea where his brain was.

At school, Bane followed me around, like a child. A few girls came up to hit on him, but he quickly and effortlessly hinted at them to get lost. Continually I noticed more and more people whispering about us. And even worse, Apollo was getting farther and farther away.

"No, Bane, chicken of the sea isn't chicken. It's tuna. And this isn't magic, it's a can opener." We were home and I was trying to cook up some lunch for the three of us. But Bane kept touching everything, asking lots of questions. It was cute, but I was worried that he might accidentally microwave his head or chop off an arm. He put his hand down the garbage disposal and almost put it on.

"No!" I grabbed him and pulled him away from the sink. "Don't do that! You'll get really hurt! Go watch TV with Apollo for now, okay?"

Apollo stiffened as Bane came to sit down with him. "I'm going to be in my room." He stood up and left.

"Apollo...?" I finished making the tuna sandwiches and placed them in front of Bane. "I'll go send some up to Apollo." Bane nodded and continued to stare at Kim Possible. I rolled my eyes and went upstairs. I'm not that good at teaching people how to deal with electronics. I just can't do that kind of thing. That's why I was so glad when Apollo already knew how to handle everything. "Apollo?"

"I'm kind of busy."

I opened the door. "I made you some sandwiches. You'll need nourishment if your going to sulk all day."

He crossed his arms and turned away. "I'm not sulking."

I laughed. "Then stop pouting, you look like an overgrown toddler."

I sat down next to him. "You really need to calm down, okay? Bane is just staying here until he can get back up on his feet. And if you really cant stand it, then hurry up and find someone to love."

"Laurel..." Apollo turned and looked at me.

I blinked. "What is it?"

He leaned forward and cupped my cheek. I started to blush a little. "Apollo?" I could feel his breath on my lips.

"Laurel! The machine is yelling at me!"

I pulled away and stood up. "I'm c-coming!" I glanced at Apollo and rushed downstairs.

"It's just a stereo," I muttered to Bane, turning it off, "Don't worry, the radio wasn't yelling at you."

"I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something important?"

"No, why?" My heart was still pounding in my ears.

"Because your cheeks are red."