Lucien greeted Death and Chronos with a jovial salute as they arrived for the monthly poker game.
"Glad you could make it, gentlemen. I want to thank the two of you for sending Jeeves to me."
"Why?" Death said. "Did you find a particularly amusing way to torture him?"
"Hell no. He's the best bouncer I've ever had and he broke Lilith's habit of sticking gum under the tables, too."
Chronos stared at him. "Jeeves? I thought he buttled."
"Buttled?" Lucien gave him a blank look.
Death nudged Time in the ribs with his olecranon. "I don't think that's a real word, my friend."
Jeeves came out of the back carrying trays of food. He set it all down on the table and held up a glass dish.
"Peanut, sir?"
Death looked at the four peanuts lying there and raised his metacarpus.
"No! Wait." Lucien ran to the bar and hurdled it, racing back with a bowl full of peanuts. He wiped the sweat from his brow with one hand as he offered the snack to Death with the other.
"Jeeves, go greet our other guests," Lucien said and heaved a sigh of relief as Death took the bowl from him.
Chronos chuckled as he watched Jeeves take a clothes brush to Michael's wings and light Clotho's cigar for her.
"You have him well-trained, Lucien, but he's living on borrowed time around Death."
"I see that," Evil muttered. Death's eye sockets still glowed red and he hadn't tossed a single peanut into them yet.
When War stomped in, Jeeves tried to fuss with his cloak and got a smack in the jaw for his efforts. Death settled back and tossed a peanut into his eye socket, his jaw dropped in a grin. He picked up the deck of cards and shuffled them.
"Five card stud, anyone? Opening wager is Jeeves's soul."
©2010 Laura Eno
