Brigitte beamed bright and carefree, then leaned against his side, sipping her drink happily. "I like it when you are not being mean to me."
Malvor glanced at Annie with a mock wounded expression. "I am never mean to her."
"You put a frog in my bed for my birthday!" Brigitte pouted at him.
"That frog had a tiny tiara and sang lullabies. You are most welcome."
"I still hear him in my dreams." Brigitte pretended to be angry.
Malvor's laugh was genuine, deep, and warm, full of affection. Annie felt it ripple soft and caring through their bond. He truly adored Brigitte. Not in a teasing way like he did most others, not even in the semi-flirtatious way he loved to play with everyone else. With her, it was different. Gentle. Pure. Protective.
She was the Pantheon's forever teenager, and tonight, she had chosen to lean into that light, bubbly version of herself. Malvor did not just accept it, he cherished it.
Brigitte turned to Annie, her wide eyes sparkling. "You look so pretty tonight. You are totally giving sea princess but also secret villain energy."
Annie blinked. "I... thank you?"
"It is a compliment," Brigitte nodded sagely. "If I ever go evil, I want to look exactly like you."
"She does look unfairly good tonight," Malvor agreed, raising his drink. "Do not encourage her. She needs no encouragement to be evil or to look that good."
"Too late," Brigitte said brightly. Then she dropped her voice into a low conspiratorial whisper. "Hey, Malvor? You are not going to break her heart, are you?"
Annie froze. Malvor did not.
He looked down at Brigitte with an expression Annie had never seen on him in front of others. Soft. Real. Quiet.
"No," he said, simple and true.
Brigitte studied him for a moment, then grinned and patted his arm. "Good. 'Cause if you do, I will curse your dreams."
"You already do," he replied dryly. "There was an entire week where I dreamed in multiple cupcake flavors. I will say the plain flavors were good but my favorite was the glittery pink one."
Brigitte's laugh sparkled like her dress. "That was a gift, not a curse. The glittery pink one is the flavor of being a girl. Sugar and spice and everything nice."
And just like that, she twirled away again, her curls and laughter dancing behind her as she disappeared toward a nearby glowing sculpture of jellyfish lights.
Annie watched her go. Then she looked at Malvor.
"You love her."
"I do," he said simply. "She is one of the only people in existence who makes chaos feel like innocence."
Then, ever himself, he smirked. "Beyond that, she is the only one who can outshine me in glitter. That deserves my respect."
Annie still watched the girl's glittering figure disappear into the crowd, her curls bouncing as she twirled toward a glowing cluster of floating lanterns. She was so bright, so effortlessly light, that it almost did not seem real.
"Is she always like that?" Annie asked quietly, sipping the last of her drink.
Malvor's smirk softened into something more thoughtful. "Brigitte is… complicated."
"Complicated?"
"She is ageless," he explained. "Not just immortal. Not like me or Luxor or the rest of us who have seen a thousand empires fall. Brigitte is… stuck."
He glanced in the direction she had gone, a fondness in his gaze.
"She is not a child. Not really. But she plays one sometimes. Other days, she wakes up wanting to be a teenager. Moody. Overdramatic. Sometimes she acts like a woman older than all of us combined. You never quite know who you are going to get. And the only rule, the only thing you have to do, is meet her wherever she is. If she wants to be sixteen today, then today, she is sixteen. You do not argue with it. You respect it."
Annie raised an eyebrow. "So what is she really?"
Malvor shrugged slightly. "She was born with power most of us still do not understand. Her realm is not just healing, it is life. Every spark, every cell, every living thing. Brigitte can knit flesh together with a whisper. She can bring someone back from the edge with a touch. But the opposite is true too."
His voice dropped, reverent and low.
"She can unmake a person just as easily. Stop a heart with a look. Kill a field of crops by sighing the wrong way. She does not like that part of herself, so she rarely shows it. But it is there. All that sweetness, all that sparkle? It is covering a storm most of us pray never wakes."
Annie looked back toward the jellyfish lights. Brigitte now spun beneath them, collecting a handful of glittering bubbles and pretending to juggle. Her laughter echoed, bright and innocent.
"She is… terrifying," Annie murmured.
Malvor smiled faintly. "Yes. But also precious. One of the only ones I trust with the worst parts of me. She sees everything. And still chooses kindness."
He glanced sideways at Annie, brushing a lock of hair from her shoulder with deliberate care. "She loves you, you know. Already. She does not say it, but she does."
Annie blinked. "Why?"
"You have not run," Malvor said simply. "And Brigitte knows how rare that is."
They stood in silence for a moment, watching the girl twirl and laugh as the sea of blue shimmered around them.
Then Malvor raised his drink again. "Now, if you will excuse me, Sea Bunny, I believe I promised you mischief and another cocktail that might make me forget my own name."
Annie rolled her eyes. "Gods help me."
"They will not," he said brightly, "but I will. Probably. Maybe. No, I will not either."
And with that, he swept them back toward the glowing bar, his chaos trailing like a glittery tide behind him.