2 Chapter 2 - Joining the Hestia Familia

'So this is it?'

Laurens stood in front of a broken-down church that seemed to be left inhabited for decades with moss growing on the building and cracks all over it, in the dark it seemed even more horrifying if someone hated horror movies.

Laurens sighed and knocked onto the door, it seemed that he had to fix this place as soon as possible to be able to live normally.

The door slowly opened and a white-haired boy he recognized as Bell, the protagonist of the series, with a knife in his hands.

As Bell opened the door, he saw a man that seemed over a head taller than him watching him with a friendly smile on his face.

"Can I help you?" Bell asked and lowered his guard which already made Laurens sure of how stupid the kid was, if he was an enemy with a bit of acting skills he would've been 6 feet under already.

"This is the Hestia Familia's.... home, right?" Laurens asked with a smile on his face.

"That's right, the Goddess lives here" Bell smiled and answered.

"In that case, Is Goddess Hestia still recruiting new Familia Members?"

Before Bell had the chance to answer, a lot of rumbling came from the background in the broken-down church and the door flew open, showing an out of breath Goddess that clearly ran to the door.

She was wearing her standard twin-tails that tied her mid-thigh long black hair with blue ribbons and a white dress that failed to hide her curves which further emphasized the nickname 'Big-boobs Loli Goddess' they gave her in Tenkai.

The first time Laurens heard that made him laugh for an entire day, which was pretty funny but also pretty sad that something so stupid could amuse him so much.

"P..please come in!" Hestia nearly shouted while catching her breath.

"U...umm sure?" Laurens' mouth twitched and nearly burst out laughing.

As they walked down the stairs of the church into the basement, Laurens couldn't help but smile bitterly.

This place needed to be renovated ASAP.

"P...Please take a seat" Hestia said and sat on the edge of the bed while Bell sat on the couch, Laurens just sat down next to Bell and looked at Hestia, waiting for her to speak.

"U...Uhum... I heard you wanted to join my Familia, could you tell me why?" Hestia tried recollecting herself and asked but Laurens could tell she was extremely nervous.

"Out of the current Gods/Goddesses that are recruiting new Familia Members, this was the best choice" Laurens said with a smile on his face.

"But why my Familia?" Hestia seemed to have regained some confidence as she asked her main question, but even she knew how low her Familia was looked at.

Laurens merely smiled and explained, "It was Goddess Demeter, who doesn't go into Dungeons. Apollo, who's just looking for handsome/pretty kids or you, who is the most relatable to me and doesn't see Familia Members as pawns"

Hestia looked at Laurens for a whole minute, trying to see some kind of flaw but her inner-happiness nearly broke out of its shell.

"Umu.... I don't see that you lied so I will trust you but if you do something wrong, humph" Hestia puffed up her cheeks and put her hands under her breasts and turned away.

"Pff..." Laurens nearly burst out laughing but restrained himself, but it was already too late since both Bell and Hestia heard him trying to hold his laughter.

"What is wrong?" Hestia asked while narrowing her eyes as she turned towards Laurens again.

"Nothing....Nothing" Laurens waved it off and a melancholic smile entered his face.

'Being with normal people truly satisfies after such a long time'

"Ah, I forgot to ask for your name!" Hestia suddenly said which made Bell realize that he also completely forgot aswell.

"My name is Laurens, twe....19 years old" Laurens said, nearly saying he was over 10.000 years old considering the time in Tenkai.

"Umm... we got one problem, we don't have an extra bed" Bell interrupted and scratched his head with a dumb smile.

"Ah! Bell-Kun can sleep with me!" Hestia instantly yelled and jumped up.

"A...ah? No no no, I can't do that! I..i can sleep on the ground" Bell instantly said with a horrified expression on his face.

"Come on, Bell-Kun! I can't let a Familia Member sleep on the floor" Hestia said with a wide smile on her face as she tapped the bed.

"T...then Laurens can sleep on the bed! I definitely can't" Bell just decided to throw Laurens under the bus and gave him a pitying look.

"I don't mind sleeping on the floor" Laurens interrupted, it was just for one night anyway and he had slept in more uncomfortable places.

"Definitely not!" Hestia screamed which made Laurens put up his hands in the air with a helpless smile.

"Laurens, then you sleep here" Hestia glared at Bell before patting the bed next to her which made Laurens shrug his shoulders and ignore Bell's pitying look.

Laurens just took off his clothes except his pants and laid on the bed without caring about the others which made Hestia pout, Laurens looked at her with a confused expression which made her look away and pout, did he have no shame at all to sleep besides a Goddess?

Little did she know that in terms of Divinity, despite her Origin, her status would still be lower compared to his in Heaven.

Bell was already laying underneath the covers and seemed to have already gone into dreamland..

"If you like him, just tell him" Laurens suddenly spoke up which made Hestia's twin tails jump up, she turned around in a hurry and looked at Laurens while shaking her head.

Hestia shook and looked at Laurens, "H..how did you know?" Hestia asked with a shocked expression.

"It's quite obvious actually, your disappointment when he rejected sleeping next to you said enough so I tried testing the waters" Laurens said with a teasing smile.

"I...I can't" Hestia deflated and looked down with a sad expression.

"Goddess, whether you can't or can isn't something you should concern yourself about, just do it" Laurens shrugged his shoulders and covered himself underneath the worn-out blankets.

"You really aren't nervous to sleep next to a Goddess" Hestia changed the subject once she saw that Laurens was already laying on his back with his hands behind his head underneath the blankets.

"Would you like me to be nervous then? O...o noo... sorr..ry" Laurens spread his hands and acted as if he was shaking which made Hestia hold her laugh because Bell was sleeping.

She took off ribbons and laid down underneath the blankets aswell.

"Tomorrow I will give you your Blessings so you may get your Status Board and.... thank you..." Hestia said with a happy tone while looking the other way.

"Thank you?" Laurens asked in confusion, he didn't do anything for her though?

"For choosing me" Hestia said before falling asleep with a smile on her face.