The trip to the bank was a short one. Neva didn't catch anyone's attention at all. Matthos was so happy as he picked up the very expensive ale from the barmaid while Neva slept in the car. He also bought the groceries with her in tow. The only glitch was that she was always cold. He would definitely buy her clothes online. 

For now, he was wishing that Barney would go to his house tomorrow.

He was surprised when he saw the house open. He woke Neva up and got out of the car carefully. When he smelled the rosemary in the air, he calmed down and guided her inside while carrying the groceries.

"What's up my-" a man stopped with his arms open and with a very bewildered look in his face while Neva hid behind Matthos

His eyes were brown and he had black hair, as tall as Matthos but slightly more filled. 

"Is it me, or do you actually have a wife now?" 

"She's not my wife, you buffoon" Matthos rolled his eyes and turned around

"Neva, this is Barney. Barney, Neva" he introduced her, and she slowly held her hand up and whimpered when Barney shook it

"Your skin" she frowned behind Matthos "It's like coffee but your eyes are very sharp"

"I'm half Asian and African, dude" 

"Dude?" 

"Ah, we kinda have a problem with her speech" Matthos commented as he put the grocery bag down and checked what was cooking

"There is no problem with thy speech, Math's" she crossed her arms

"Math's?" Barney howled with laughter as Matthos' face morphed into irritation

"It's Matthos, my little sunshine" he grinned at Neva who stepped back "Don't be scared, I'm not a beater" 

"You look exotic" she complimented him, and Barney blushed 

"You look one in a million" he had a goody grin that made Matthos punched his arm playfully

"Stop looking at her that way, you're making her uncomfortable" 

"Alright" he rolled his eyes but shot her another grin, which Neva returned quite reluctantly and failed at. She looked relieved the moment Barney turned around

"The headquarters was looking for your ass, told them you're taking the five year leave before you serve" 

Matthos winced, he really didn't want to serve the higher order. He wanted to be a researcher, not an officer. 

"I still haven't found a way to escape this shit" Barney muttered, glancing at Neva who was sitting with her back straight

"I need help with carrying the ale" Matthos whispered

"Ale? Freaking ale? Really dude?" Barney couldn't believe it, and he didn't try to hide it at all. As Matthos told Neva to rest while they carried the ale, Barney was trying to find out how his friend got into this predicament.

Neva went into the room and said she will wake at sunset. The term was normally "nap"

"You bloody ass, what did you get into now?" Barney asked once the barrel was set in the kitchen

"Well, it started like this" Matthos explained everything and was given a loud slap

"You walked in the middle of a storm at midnight? Didn't I teach you better?" he scowled and made Matthos laugh out loud

"I explained everything that is fishy, but you only remembered me walking in the rain?" 

"She's showing signs of abuse" Barney pondered "Fear, fear is prevalent. She also sticks to old words, archaic and does not have any knowledge with the new one" then he sighed "This is a case like no other"

"She also detests the word lullabies, and hates them too" Barney's eyes widened at Matthos' words

"On an unrelated note, there are more kids dying these days" Barney pointed his finger up as if he had a very brilliant idea

"Too polluted, shaking baby syndrome" Matthos said, bored

"Yeah, but our parents are going to deal with it. They won't appear for a year or two" 

Matthos' insides twisted for this reason "Yeah, they will. So, how about Mayra?" 

Barney's expression darkened "She chose to leave us, she'd better be dead" 

Matthos still had hope that Mayra would outgrow her rebellion, but Barney's expression crushed the only hope he had 

"So, how're we going to deal with her?" 

"Teach her how to survive in this world, I guess" he shrugged his shoulders

"How do you survive this world? Look at us, my dear bologna. We're still trying to keep ourselves together. I'm not discouraging you from taking care of her, what I'm pointing out is that you need to pull yourself together first" Barney started the emotional lecture, and Matthos knew that he won't be able to butt in unless he wanted a beating "You always take unnecessary risk, and having another life form depending on you would have to stop you from it" he droned on "I guess this is why you called for me. You need me, you didn't miss me" he faked a sigh

Matthos punched his arm "I said I missed you because I did. Now, I need you to be the partner in crime I've always had"

Barney smiled "Yeah, I'm taking the five year leave too. That's enough time to fix our shit and make Neva feel at home in the modern world" 

"You're taking this quite easily" Matthos stood up and sat on the couch

"Like you are. We've always taken things easy. Remember when we took the green snake from the garden and made it our pet?" 

"Yeah. Remember the time when we helped a burglar take the telly from our house? Epic!"

"Seriously though, why does she detest lullabies?" 

"I asked, she just said it's cursed. That and I couldn't understand the words the used. Orison to the gods, blood and stuff"

"Oooh, blood. Scary" Barney rolled his eyes but then sat up straight  "We'll have a lot of problems with this sheez, but I'm willing to do it"
"I lost my archaic dictionary" Matthos confessed

"You lost what?" It took a moment before Barney processed the words "You lost THAT???" Then he pinched his nose "Why am I surprised? I'll get one from the library. It might impress the librarian"

"Do you think we'll succeed on this?"

"When there's a will, we'd need Frito Lay" Barney smacked his lips 

Matthos couldn't help but close his eyes. He felt comforted by his friend's presence. It would make things weird if he became too sentimental

"When there's a will, there's a way. Not that we'd need Frito Lay" 

"Neva, Neva, Neva" Barney was in deep thought "Her name means Snow. She acts like Jon" he murmured

"John?" 

"No, Jon. The guy in Game of Thrones who knows nothing. The difference is, Neva knows something. But the thing is, whatever she knows, it won't be sufficient for her survival" he had this look that said "duh" 

"Of course, I knew you'd include that on our conversation" 

"She speaks just like them. Who knows, maybe there are white walkers" 

"White Walkers?" A sleepy voice from their left made Barney and Matthos straighten up

"You will know, my dear disciple, once I teach you the wonders of Television" Barney smiled and rubbed his palms, as if concocting a devious plan, which he probably started  thinking of a while ago

"Disciple? Ladies can be disciples now?" Neva's eyes widened in wonder

"Yes, we focus on equality" he clapped happily

Matthos watched as Neva walked and smiled at him. He winced loudly and glared when Barney hit his chest and whistled like it was nothing

"Bastard" he ruffled Barney's head "I'm going to fix the table. Don't worry, Barney doesn't bite" he reassured Neva

"Unless you want me to" Barney winked and Neva went red 

"Which she doesn't. Go flirt with that librarian you had a crush on when you have time" Neva snorted at his words

As Matthos fixed the table and had dinner with the two, he forgot whatever problems he had. It could've been because of Barney's presence and Neva's innocence. 

Whoever said women were weak? Weakness has no preference. He saw that as he watched her try to learn the slang of today. He saw that as Barney's defenses came down. Being needed made him happy. The fact that Neva does makes him happy. 

Barney just watched his friend in a trance and distracted Neva as much as possible. Then he caught the smile Matthos gave him, and he knew. He never asked, because Matthos always made him know, and that made things easier. Brotherhood, friendship. Whatever turmoil he's having because of his family were erased by Matthos' expression. It feels good to be needed and loved.

Neva saw a serene expression on the two, but decided not to comment about it. Serenity, another foreign emotion that surprisingly, hasn't bothered her. It was comfortable

Everything was, but to survive

One must always be

VIGILANT