Hello Everyone! I'm back! Sort of. My profile explains that I've moved on to different things, but I wanted to come back to where my interest in writing really developed and rewrite this story (which got a lot more popular than I expected it to). So here goes!

SMALL STEPS: VER. 2.0

Somewhere, in a dark room, a certain Egyptian god is sitting in a corner feeling sorry for himself because all he can do is think about a girl.

A human girl.

A goddess-hosting wand-toting combat-boots-wearing human girl.

It wasn't as if it was his hobby to think about any random adolescent girls that happen to swoop into his life. No...in all his 5,000 something years of existence, it had never occurred to him that he would become obsessed like some sort of pedophile.

Needless to say, he'd like to think of himself as a "fond observer." Doesn't that sound better? Less creepy? He was proud of himself for coining such a phrase.

However, despite his efforts to convince himself that he wasn't infatuated, he had failed to convince the girl's father, a Julius Kane/Osiris hybrid that no one can really name nor categorize.

It was a bright spring morning when the door to Anubis's room flew off its hinges and Julius calmly strode in.

"You like Sadie, don't you."

Anubis stopped sucking his thumb and looked up from the shadows. "Was that a question? Then no."

"That wasn't a question."

"Alright, well, I'll have you know that I am merely a fond-"

"I don't think 'fond observers' sit around their rooms and eat tubs of ice cream mumbling to themselves about their lack of self-confidence. Grow a pair and do something productive."

The silence that followed was nearly tangible, filled with both heavy denial on one side and stubbornness on the other. If Anubis admitted what he didn't care to admit, then what would happen? Would he actually have to pursue his feelings? Was that something that had to be done, or could he simply wrap them in the toilet paper he rules over and flush them down the toilet?

Would Julius/Osiris let him do that?

"Listen, son," the man said, putting a hand on Anubis's shoulder. "I've been down that road, and I have to say that whatever you may be feeling now will come back to bite you later if you don't act on it now."

The Lord of Funerals, of one's Endings and Beginnings, considered this. All the decisions he'd made in his life floated back to him, and it couldn't have been more obvious that none of them were quite like the one he'd have to make very soon. Regret wasn't something he was familiar with, and he didn't exactly want to get acquainted with it. After all, he's still a god, even if he's the God of Pretty Much Nothing Useful, and it probably isn't pleasant to regret something for eternity.

Everything had to be measured out.

He wasn't as free-spirited as Sadie, charismatic Sadie, who always seemed to be in control of her world and radiated the aura of a leader. Perhaps it was admiration that let to lo-whatever it is he was feeling.

The equations in his head told him that it was worth it.

He would have to face her.

He would do it or have fun moping about it.

"Alright. Fine," he said, standing. Julius smiled and patted him on the back.

"Hold out your hand." Anubis raised a questioning brow. For what, a high five? "Just do it," he pressed. Anubis obeyed.

Julius reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of pink paper. "What's-"

He slapped it into Anubis's outstretched hand and disappeared without saying another word.

There was a 10-digit number on that piece of paper.

Anubis swore he could hear Julius's evil laughter echoing through his house.

Well. That was definitely more difficult than I expected it to be, since I didn't really have much of a plot to work off of in the first place. Also, I think I killed some of the cheesy humor in this by fleshing it out. Oh well. It's alright...right? Let me know what you think of the rewrite, because I have the original stored in my computer and I can always put it back if people prefer that.

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