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 Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 1:25 am
Normally, when the first rays of sunlight broke through his bedroom blinds, creeping in to warm his skin, Valeriu luxuriated in the feeling of morning. The lethargy, the comfort, the warmth.
This was not one of those mornings.
"Ngggh," he groaned, flinching away from a particularly enthusiastic ray of sunshine to bury his face into his pillow. Today, waking brought nothing but pain: pain in his ribs, his back, his cuts and bruises. And, unexpectedly, pain in his head; like sharp needles pricking at his brain, while his mouth ran dry as cotton. Every sound was another needle, every creak and groan of the house dropping pins down his ears. He felt sick; sick, and miserable, and tired.
But it was morning. And every morning, Valeriu always got up. Every morning, he would roll out of bed, make his way to the shower, clean himself up and get ready for a new day.
He rolled out of bed, but did not land on his feet.
THUD.
He was getting to be good friends with the floor.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 1:54 am
Normally Tepin awoke to the sound of Valeriu fidgeting in the kitchen and the smell of breakfast cooking. This made waking up particularly worth it-- she could flop out of bed, yawn, stretch, and be completely catered to until consciousness finally decided to fully take care of her brain.
But today, Valeriu was being a pain. He was making her use her brain before noon. And that was just downright rude.
“Mrrrr.” Went the girl child’s voice from her pillow.
Just because she had to think, didn’t mean she had to be particularly coherent.
“Ya’okay?”
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:21 am
"Yeah, yeah," he reassured, pushing himself back to his feet and rubbing his back with a grimace. He scooted on back over to the bed, pulling the mussed and tugged blankets back up over her, tucking her in a bit better. "Go on back to sleep."
After all, if his little princess did not get to sleep in past 5:30 AM, then she turned into a little demon. And that would not bode well for him. Picking out a set of clothes for the day, he ambled out to the bathroom, rubbing his head.
Sleep addled his brain; his thoughts were hazy, and any strenuous work made the headache all the worse. He passed the stairs, and had the briefest burst of dislike for them, for some strange reason.
"Hm," he grunted at that.
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Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 11:15 pm
“Myerrrrrr.” Was the only sort of intelligible reply that she could manage, pulling the blankets more tightly against her in a half-conscious state.
She did not want to get up.
She’d resort to violence if she had to get up.
Sydni was away, and today was a good day to sleep in. A lot had happened.
She deserved to sleep in.
She’d hurt him if he tried to wake her up.
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:01 am
Unwrapping the bandages was an adventure in itself. The more he woke up, the more he remembered, and soon he was anxiously investigating the cut on his side, poking and prodding the site.
Did they put anything in there? A tracker? Was that metal he felt - wait, no, no, that was his rib. It seemed innocuous enough. Innocent, too innocent.
The shower was a whole other adventure, as well. One where he tip-toed around his cuts, hissing at the sting of mislaid soapy bubbles and dancing in pain and a series of low "ow, ow, ow" chants. It didn't help that he'd cut himself shaving, either. By the time the conditioner was being left in, he was ruminating about other things.
Morosely, he stared up at the showerhead as it cheerily splashed water against his chest. The feeling was strange; it sent jolts and shivers through him whenever a stream pounded against the cracks in his mirror. That was probably not the best sign. He should really get that fixed.
He should probably just get his brain fixed, while he was at it. What was he thinking? Making such a - such a bold move. Sure, he'd had his doubts about Tepin (he was a man, for godssakes, and she most certainly did not act like his sister any longer). But to actually act on them?
How high had he been?
Nervously, he glanced towards the bathroom door as he patted himself dry with a fluffy towel, re-dressing his wounds.
Would she...? She seemed pretty sure that he would forget. Did that mean that she wanted him to forget? She said she'd remind him.
He wanted her to remind him. God help him, but he - he wanted to try this. It was there, and he knew Mixcoatl thought he was a fool for not taking it in the first place (morals, man, morals!).
If she still felt the same. He had to know. Right now. Before he lost his nerve. Pulling his t-shirt on, he headed back into the bedroom, looking carefully at the girl on the bed.
This would require tact. Lots of tact. As much tact as Valeriu held in his once-ten-year-old body!
He sat himself upon the edge of the bed, gently reached over, and prodded her in the cheek.
"Hey. Hey Tepin. V'ake up."
Smooth.
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:19 pm
She grunted, and rolled onto her back. From there came the largest yawn that her mouth could muster.
That completed, it was stretching time. First the arms, followed by the back, and lastly her legs down to the tips of her toes. That completed, her body fell limp with a satisfied sigh.
From this point on, she had two options. She could happily go back to sleep, basking in the warm sun; or she could wake up, talk to Valeriu, and have to be awake all day.
Damnit.
"Mmmng!” She squeaked out, her voice hitting the high notes obnoxiously, “Whhyyyyyyy?”
She hadn’t opened her eyes yet. Not yet. Depending on what he had to say, she could potentially go back to bed. But once her eyes opened and registered what time it was, she knew getting back to sleep would be impossible.
Heck, talking to him like this, she was already taking chances of whether or not she’d be able to get back to sleep or not already.
It better be worth it.
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:28 pm
He frowned. She should know why. She promised him!
Maybe she was not awake enough. He stalked over to the other side of the bed as she stretched and whined, not content with leaving her be just yet. She was not a dog, so he was not going to let her lie.
So it was with great determination that he knelt himself on the mattress, and gave her other side a series of prods and pokes.
"Because," he pressed, underlining the sheer importance of her waking up as he emphasized the word. You promised, he wanted to remind her. But that would ruin the point. She had to remember. If he hadn't forgotten, then it would make no sense for her to forget!
Tail batting back and forth, he stepped up the game. Flat on his tummy, he slowly and inexorably extended his arms, pushing her across the bed inch by inch towards the edge as he dug his feet into the floor.
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:47 pm
Red eyes opened in a flash, a glare turning to him as if she were going to rip him apart.
Actually, if Tepin would have been able to, she might very well have done that.
“Because--” Her voice was grating on the edge now, “Why?”
Even with her hair sticking up in every possible direction, even with her face still muddled by sleep, she glared down on him indimidatingly. He was not going to survive, not when he acted so annoying so early in the morning. Didn’t he realize that normal, sane people still slept at this hour!?
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:59 pm
He froze in the face of her glare, cautiously slinking back to kneel on the floor, peering at her with eyes leveled just above the mattress top and ears laid back.
Perhaps he should have re-thought disturbing her at this hour. Still, still! He frowned.
Valeriu was man. And Tepin - Tepin was really just a little girl, still. Why should he be afraid? He puffed up, standing up and crossing his arms down at her.
"Because," he repeated stubbornly, yet for some reason he felt he was standing before a firing squad.
Strange.
"You, you," he stumbled over his words, the flare of confidence dwindling with each second that intensified glare remained settled on him. "You owe me something!"
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:26 pm
Her head raised just enough to rest it on her hand, looking down on him with her peeved expression. There was no way she’d get back to sleep now, all day long, and it was all his fault.
At his final words, however, she dropped her head back onto the pillow, watching him, gauging his intent, before suddenly tugging the blankets over her head and holding them fast.
Oh.
That.
“U-Um, oh.”
How much of that did he remember? Did he knows the details, or just that she was supposed to remind him of something?
Crap. She was on uncertain ground. If he knew what she was supposed to remind him, she could tell him. But…
If he didn’t remember, then she didn’t want to force herself on him.
“I’ll get up.” If he remembered it all, he would say something, right? It’d be better to play it safe in the case that he didn’t know. “And get Syd in a minute. Just lemme wake up first.”
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:37 pm
He saw the flash of recognition in her eyes; knew she knew exactly what he wanted.
Then she pulled up the covers. And in that moment, he'd realized: he'd read her, completely wrong. Last night, last night - she didn't want to. When she told him she would do nothing, there was no hidden meaning behind it. And all the other things he did; she was just humoring him. She'd never kissed back after all, she hadn't.
It seemed she had realized she only cared for him as a brother, the same time he realized he might care for her as more than a sister.
Damn my life.
He was terrible, terrible. He shouldn't have been so forward like that, shouldn't have forced himself upon her. He was worse than any other monster he knew.
The only thing he could do to make it up would be to play along, and let her be.
"Fine, fine," he bit out as positively as he could, moving back around the bed. His hand made to pat the form under the covers in exasperation, but stalled, stopped, halfway to its destination. He drew it back, sighed, and then sighed louder as exuberantly as he could. "You can keep sleeping. I v'ill go get her myself, it is okay."
He would mention nothing about yesterday. Nothing about Nathan, and nothing after that. To her, for all he knew, he'd simply fallen asleep on the couch and woke up in his own bed.
He just had to shake it off.
"Don't let Mr. Slinkers take my side of the bed," he reminded her with a frown. "I do not like the fur he leaves."
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:50 pm
She pulled the blankets closer around her, pulling into a little hidden ball inside the bed.
“Be careful.” The covers called out to him, and a tiny wriggled confirmed that it was the lump that had told him.
She wasn’t going to come out. Not for days. Not when he didn’t remember. What a disappointment-- her hopes were really high for a while, last night.
But she couldn’t say she wasn’t prepared for this. She had seen it coming from a mile away. He wasn’t himself. That wasn’t what he was really thinking.
She knew that. She was just an idiot for hoping that it might not be true.
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:58 pm
"I v'ill," he reassured. "After all, v'hat is the v'orst that could happen? I can see it now. 'Babysitter Beats Teenager V'ith Frying Pan'."
He'd go out, retrieve Sydni; return, make breakfast, and then go to work. And he'd do the same tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after, until he died.
The only difference, now, would be that he'd inevitably be making breakfast for only one someday.
"Be back in a few," he hummed quietly, and closed the bedroom door behind him.
Damn. My. Life.
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:43 pm
“You laugh now! But see how you feel after Mrs. Johnson gets a whack at you!”
Stupid boys. Always so overconfident. Only an idiot would say something like “What’s the worst that could happen” after being kidnapped the day before.
At least it was a good sign that he was joking like an idiot. That meant that he must have been blissfully unaware of yesterday. She was jealous-- She wished she could get over the feeling of disappointment that sank in her stomach. Should she have reminded him?
He had asked her to.
But up until that single moment where he had, by chance, asked her that question, he had no intent of being anything more than a brother.
...It was better this way.
For everyone.
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