The calm, melodic voice on the other end said, “Hello, Alexei,” and didn’t sound surprised at all, despite the fact that they’d had no contact in almost a year. Alexei wasn’t sure it if that was just Gregori being Gregori - he almost always sounded serene, even in the middle of a sword fight with ten-foot-tall fire-belching ogres - or if his brother’s new psychic abilities had predicted this phone call. In the end, it didn’t much matter.
For a minute, Alexei couldn’t think of what to say. So many words tumbled over each other in his mind, spilling into his mouth and choking him until he couldn’t talk at all. He hadn’t realized until this very minute how hard it had been to spend so long without contacting the brothers he’d spent centuries with, since they were all children of varying ages playing in the realms of the gods.
“Alexei?” Gregori repeated. “Are you there?”
“More or less,” Alexei mumbled. “Hello, Gregori.”
His brother’s low chuckle crossed the many miles between them. “How are you, you big lout? And where are you? We were beginning to think you’d disappeared off the ends of the earth.”
“Close enough,” Alexei said. He could hear the ocean from where he sat, although he’d have to walk down the road to actually put his feet in it. “And I’m…okay, mostly. You?”
“I am well. Still adjusting to all the changes in my life, but well enough, for all of that. Content. Happy, even.” His brother paused for a moment. They’d never been an emotional bunch, or talked much about their feelings. “Are you happy, Alexei?”
Alexei snorted, making Lulu jump and give him a disgruntled look. “How would I know? I don’t even know who I am anymore.”
“Ah. That explains the call, I expect. Has something happened?” Another pause. “Have you discovered what your new gift is?”
“Pfft.” Alexei scowled into the night sky. “Gift. Is that what we’re calling our brother turning into a big green creature and you suddenly being able to predict the future? Gifts? I’d rather have a bottle of vodka and a nice box of chocolates.”
“Wouldn’t we all?” Gregori said lightly. But Alexei had heard through the paranormal grapevine of how hard his brother had had to fight to come to terms with his new talent. It had almost killed him, if the reports were right.
“I suppose so.” Alexei took a deep breath. “Um, do you think hearing a dog talk could be my gift? Or is that just crazy?”
He could practically see the raised eyebrow through the phone.
“A dog? Or all of them?”
Alexei glanced at Lulu, who simply yawned back at him, uninterested in the fact that his life was unraveling. “Only one so far. A very pregnant Great Dane.”
“I see,” Gregori said. “And what does she say?”
“Well, she told me to call you.”
Gregori laughed quietly. “Then she is either the voice of your subconscious, or a very smart dog.”
“Isn’t there some way to find out which one it is?” Alexei asked, only a touch plaintively.
“Have you tried talking to any other animals?” his brother asked. “That might tell you something.”
“Bad enough I’m having conversations with one,” Alexei grumbled. “Besides, I’m at the end of the world. Not many animals here, although I suppose there are other dogs and cats and such.” He thought for a moment, then said more cheerfully, “And maybe a kraken. I wonder if I could talk to a kraken.”
“A kraken?” Gregori repeated. “Have you - no, of course you haven’t.”
There was a moment of silence when they both thought about the days when it would have been automatic to contact one of the Baba Yagas if they ran into something odd and paranormal. Those days were over now, blown away like so much dust in the wind.
“Not my business,” Alexei growled. “Besides, I haven’t seen it. Just heard a story and saw a giant sucker mark on a dead fish. Might be nothing.”
“Uh huh.” Gregori sighed. “Leave it to you to stumble across trouble even at the ends of the world, wherever that is.”
“Cape Cod,” Alexei said, not sure why he was so reluctant to tell his brother where he was. After all, it wasn’t as though he was staying. “But I’m leaving soon.”
Another pause while his brother - always the smartest of them all - processed what he’d heard, and what he hadn’t heard. “You don’t sound all that happy about it,” Gregori said finally. “Are you finally getting tired of traveling from place to place? Nothing wrong with that, if you are. Mikhail and I are both finding it surprisingly pleasant to finally set down roots. Endlessly moving isn’t quite as attractive as it used to be when we had forever to do it in. And the Baba Yagas to do it for.”
Alexei sighed. “Maybe. A little bit. There’s this woman. Well, and the dog, and the woman’s father, and a bar…” His voice trailed off when he thought about the bar. Damn it.
“This woman, you like her?” Gregori sounded torn between amusement and concern. “She’s a Human?”
“Bah,” Alexei said. “I wouldn’t say I like her. She drives me nuts. I’m helping to take care of her father, who also drives me nuts. The dog is nice. I like the dog.” Lulu reached up and licked his face. “Aw, cut it out, Lulu. That’s disgusting.”
“Is Lulu the woman?” Gregori asked. “In which case, should you be on the phone right now? It sounds like you’re busy.”
Alexei rolled his eyes. “Lulu is the dog, and she just gave me a stinky dog kiss. Bethany is the woman, and she runs her father’s bar for him, since he broke his back. I’m um, kind of helping out with him. Just for now, because she’d giving me a place to stay for free. Besides, he’s a stubborn old man, and you know how I like a challenge.”
This time the silence on the other end of the phone went on a little longer.
“Let me get this straight,” his brother said finally. “You found yourself a woman who runs a bar. That sounds pretty perfect for you. And you’re taking care of her disabled father, which sounds slightly out of character, but I’ve seen you do odder things. So what’s the problem?”
“How do you know there is one?” More silence, flavored this time with the air of a knowing older brother. “Fine, fine, you win. There might be a small problem. I might have kind of trashed the bar tonight.”
“Alexei!”
“Hey, we used to wreck bars all the time. And the other guy started it.” Alexei kicked a pebble with the toe of his boot. “But Bethany is furious with me, and I don’t blame her. She told me the first night I got here not to get into any fights in her place, and I just kind of forgot. You know, for a second, it felt like old times.” Except that you weren’t there. But he couldn’t say that.
“So what are you going to do?” Gregori asked, more gently than Alexei felt like he deserved.
He shrugged, even though his brother couldn’t see it. “Leave, I guess. She’s probably going to kick me out as soon as she gets home anyway.”