EDITED :D
A/N: Ok, sorry for any crappyness in this chapter. I've got no one looking over this but me so if you see any mistakes or have any ideas let me know! I love to get reviews with constructive criticism because I like to improve.
Have any of you seen the Owls of Ga'Hoole? I sat there watching it and thought it was amazing. The second time through I kept giggling because I kept finding similarities to TF. Metal Beak is pretty much a bird version of Megs XD
Anyways, r and r peeps ;P
Lying in bed watching TV at ten o'clock in the morning in nothing but her pajamas Ember was aware that she looked like a couch potato, or more accurately, a bed potato. Her body felt exhausted even after a full night of sleep and she wanted nothing more than to remain in bed for the rest of her life. She could hear someone moving about in the kitchen, the smell of eggs and bacon drifting into her room from under her bedroom door. Judging by the fact that no one in the apartment cooked, she guessed Cody had stayed over. Again. It was so like him to just crash in the living room without even asking. At least he attempted to repay them with actual meals instead of their usual frozen dinners.
On TV a golden android was talking to a short little robot. Sci-Fi was having a Star Wars marathon.
She sighed and rolled over, pulling the covers up above her head in an attempt to sleep just a little bit more. Her soft sheets provided just the right amount of comfort to keep her in bed, to make her feel lazy, and to remain in the warmth. After the excitement of the previous day, her poor addled brain could not take any more strain for fear of a mental breakdown. Was she being over dramatic? Maybe just a little bit. She curled up and slowed her breathing, feeling her mind drift out of focus and sleep take over.
"Ember!" The door burst open and rebounded off the wall, nearly putting a hole in it. "What do you want on your omelet?"
She glared at the underside of her blanket with all the hate she could muster.
"Justice," she growled.
"Ok, I'll tell Cody that," Taylor cheerily replied. "Seriously," she prompted.
Ember pushed the covers off of her face and turned to look at her roommate standing in the doorway patiently. She was tempted to lodge a pillow down her throat and as if sensing the killer intent Taylor fidgeted. "Cheese and ham," she replied with a sigh and sat up rubbing sleep from her eyes. Taylor disappeared while Ember crawled out of bed and brushed her hair out of her eyes before stepping out into the light of day. Behind her, the comforting darkness of her room called to her inner demon.
Shoulders slumped and eyes drooping she shuffled into the kitchen where Cody was standing over the stove with a spatula in one hand and a pan in the other. He wore red plaid pajama bottoms and a black wife beater, his hair was tussled and stuck up at odd angels. He jiggled the yellow substance off the bottom of the pan and carefully slid it onto an awaiting plate.
"Here you go." He held out the plate to her and she took it readily, her growling stomach demanding sustenance.
"I didn't know you could cook food," she stated sarcastically. She reached for a glass of orange juice perched and waiting for her on the counter. Cody chuckled and pushed her out of the kitchen and towards the table where Taylor was sitting and already eating an omelet of her own.
Ember sat in the seat across from her just as Shelby came out of the bathroom and sat at the end of the table. They greeted each other with sounds of acknowledgment and little else. This was the usual routine, it was one that had not left them after they grew out of their teenage phase, and it had served them well. Only a select few could distinguish the exact mood of one of the roommates within the small apartment by a single grunt alone.
The omelet was good, all cheesy and filled with ham, but about half way through Taylor made a comment about a bruise Ember had on the side of her face and she lost her appetite. The fact that she had almost been killed left a bad taste in her mouth. She fought off the shiver that threatened to shake her and instead took a sip of her orange juice.
"So you were hit by a car but not hurt?" Shelby asked in confusion. She played with a long string of cheese from Taylor's plate absently while her mind processed the information. Taylor stared at Shelby incredulously but the look went unnoticed by Shelby.
"Not that I wasn't hurt, just nothing serious," Ember replied.
Cody sat down at the other end of the table and handed a plate to Shelby before digging into his meal the way only a guy could. Inhuman sized bites and with almost no air in between.
"Sounds like you were lucky," Taylor said while stabbing the last bite of her eggs and glancing in Shelby's direction cautiously, worried for her breakfast.
"Yeah I heard that already." Ember grouched and stuffed the rest of the omelet into her mouth defiantly. Her stomach flipped angrily, but she forced the food down.
"And some guys with weird names just happened to be there when you woke up?" It was Shelby again, with the same confused tone. While she adopted a comically quizzical expression, she continued to play with another string of cheese from her own plate.
"Yup."
"And one of them offered to take you around town?"
"Something like that."
"Hmm," Shelby thoughtfully pushed a piece of ham around on her plate. "Sounds like they were feeling guilty," she ended the tennis ball conversation shortly.
"Why would they feel guilty? I was hit by some ass wipe in a silver corvette." Ember pushed her plate away and raised a brow in Shelby's direction.
"Maybe they knew the guy," Cody threw in randomly.
"I doubt it," Ember deadpanned, deciding to end the discussion there. But she couldn't help but think that that Tim guy had seemed a little culpable. Like he was fighting with his own conscience.
….
Snip!
"Goddamnit!"
Ember watched as a small drop of blood welled up from a cut on her finger. A pair of scissors rested on the floor where she sat. A blue streamer lay in her lap, forgotten.
"Again?" Cody asked from his perch on the step ladder. He was holding a ring of clear tape and a purple streamer.
"Yes," she muttered.
"Maybe you should make the snacks instead," Shelby suggested from the kitchen. She looked a bit bewildered by the stack of recipes she was looking through.
"It's just dip, how hard could it be?" Ember asked.
"They're just streamers, how hard could it be?" Shelby shot back.
Ember paused, "touché."
In preparation for Taylor's party, they had chosen to begin as early in the day as they possibly could. Shelby had sent Taylor away on an endless list of errands, despite the fact that Taylor already knew of her impending birthday celebration, and had locked the front door behind her. The three had sat around, like lag in a computer game, until they finally mustered the energy to move about.
Switching over to food duty, Ember picked out a small stack of things she could make with the ingredients Cody had bought. She washed her hands, bandaged her cut, and put her hair up into a quick bun before starting. She cracked her knuckles expertly and hefted a pot onto the stove with a grunt.
She was halfway through the stack of recipes and up to her elbows in cheese'n'chili sauce for the nacho cheese dip when she got a phone call. There was a brief moment in which she stared at her cheese layered hands and then imploringly (desperately) at Cody who met her gaze humorously. He jumped down from the latter and strutted into the kitchen to answer the phone. Ember waited seven seconds before he slid the cell phone onto her shoulder.
"It's Jessie," he announced before returning to his task.
"Hey Jess, what's up?" Ember greeted her friend. She stirred the contents of the bowl in front of her absently. Jessie was one of Cody's numerous ex-girlfriends that had somehow worked her way into the group of friends against Cody's pleading. It was his worst nightmare, but one look from Ember had shut him up. He got over it real quick. 'He always does', she thought bitterly.
"Hey, Em, nothing much, what time does the party start?" Jessie's voice was pleasant enough yet she always sounded distracted when she was on the phone, as if she had more important things to be doing at that very moment.
"Six-ish," she replied. She pushed the bowl into the microwave and narrowed her eyes at the timer, estimating the amount of time it would take. She hesitantly entered five minutes and turned away, leaning against the counter.
"Ok, who all is coming?" she asked.
"I have no clue. I let Cody do the inviting, so my best guess would be a shit ton of people I don't know." The bowl of chilicheese dip let out a pop that caused her to jump and turn back to the microwave. Had she put it in for too long?
"Oops. Well, I guess I'll see you later then," Jessie hung up a few seconds after Ember bid her farewell.
It most cases, preparing for a party was boring, and this would have been the same if it weren't for the fact that Cody was there and they were blasting music while gulping down energy drinks. A hyper Shelby was one to remember, she ran around the house screaming and didn't get any work done, but Ember appreciated the entertainment. Cody was doing his best to decorate around the twister of destruction that was Shelby. In Ember's opinion, he was succeeding.
"Hey, you should post on Face Book and get everybody to bring whatever drinks and snacks they want so we can have more," Ember told Cody. Everyone would get the message, she had no doubt, Cody couldn't even receive friend requests anymore because he had exceeded the limit.
Cody looked up from the table cloth he was unfolding and sighed dramatically. "I guess," he turned and headed for the back room in search of the computer. Ember rolled her eyes and picked up the table cloth and threw it over the table. She arranged the food around the chocolate cake she had pulled out of the fridge minutes before and stood back to admire her handy work. Then, with a glint of pride in her eyes, she examined the whole of the room and placed her hands on her hips.
"I like it."
…
"When did we get a bouncer?" Ember asked in exasperation.
"What?" Cody turned from a blond bimbo he had been talking to and glanced over at the door where a tall and very intimidating man stood. Tattoos, piercings, and spikes. "Oh, that's just Phil, Ember. Don't you remember him? You know, that one time we went out and you got drunk and you threw up all over his cool boots."
Ember groaned and face palmed, the vague semblance of a memory that surfaced in her mind was not a pretty one and it involved much nausea. Cody laughed and pushed a drink into her hand.
"Just don't pull a repeat," he warned jokingly.
Ember glared but took a sip of her drink before turning and scanning the crowd for Taylor. Spotting the birthday girl, she laughed. Taylor was wearing a funny green and purple pimp hat and head bobbing to the music. "Looks, like she's having fun," she commented dryly. Taylor had always been the social butterfly of the group; she could make friends with anyone without even trying. Ember and Shelby on the other hand were about as socially graceful as rocks.
Music was blasting, lights were flashing, and people were dancing. It was certainly a good party, and a few (a bunch) of drinks later, Ember started to have fun too. She talked to a lot of people and caught up with them, introduced herself to people she didn't even know, and danced with Cody. She nearly tripped over him but they just laughed it off.
No one had even touched the cake yet.
Hours flew by and it was nearing midnight.
All of the fun ended for Ember when her stomach lurched and she rushed to the bathroom. It was never a nice feeling, knowing you were about to be sick. Yanking the door open she found it occupied by three other people who were already sick. She froze for a collection of seconds, her mind blank of any other options, and that cost her precious time. She refused to use the kitchen sink because then she would be seen by the entire party and that would be an embarrassment and a half. It would end up on Face Book no doubt. The sweet embrace of the cold night air would be her only solution.
The front door was thrown open and Ember was expelled from the party almost comically. She stumbled across the breezeway. With one hand balancing her against the wall, she dizzily stared down at the ground, waiting for the inevitable. Although, with nothing to keep her mind occupied her eyes were drawn to a line of ants, marching across the concrete dutifully.
"Jeez Ember, you can't hold your liquor at all, can you?"
Cody leaned against the wall next to her with his hands in his pockets. He looked down at her with an expression somewhere between pity and guilt.
"Shut up Cody, you're the one who gave me that…concoction." She groaned and pressed her back against the wall and slid down into a sitting position. She felt miserable. Cody was silent. Ember glanced up at him through a curtain of her hair and blinked, he was looking to his right, wariness written on his face.
"Ember?"
A familiar voice.
A tall figure stood at the end of the breezeway and only when he stepped into the dim light did Ember recognize him as Tim. Concern was radiating off of him in waves.
"Yes dad?" she asked with an amused and slightly slurred tone. Cody glanced down at her with a brow raised questionably, confused by the familiarity the two shared.
"Are you alright?" the man's head tilted in an almost childlike gesture of curiosity. Behind him the apartment parking lot was silent except for the lonely chirping of a cricket.
"Just peachy, how about you?" Her voice was loaded with sarcasm. Had she been sober she might have taken a different approach, probably a bit kinder with a lot more respect, and asked what the man was doing back in her area. But she wasn't, so she didn't, and the helpful soul was left to deal with her irritating behavior.
"I am Fine," he responded in a perplexed tone. "May I have a word with you?" He glanced over at Cody meaningfully and Cody, being the smooth person he was, chose that moment to sidle back to the party.
Tim crouched down in front of Ember and cleared his throat to grab her clearly wandering attention. She watched a moth that was furiously beating its wings against a light hanging from the ceiling. "Are you sure you are alright?"
"Yeah, but if I throw up on your shoes don't hate me," she snickered and brushed some hair out of her face. The urgent tone Tim spoke with was lost amongst her giggly mood.
"Ember, listen to me this is important." Brushing his concern aside he placed a hand on her shoulder. Once again she was reminded of the militant air that surrounded him as he switched gears. Suddenly he was no longer beating around the bush. "There's been some suspicious activity in the area and I fear that you may be targeted due to our previous interactions. Please be aware of your surroundings."
"Right, I can do that. What kind of activity?" she asked curiously, seeming a bit more sober.
"Gang violence mostly," he glanced down the breezeway suspiciously.
"Gangs? I didn't even know we had gangs," Ember stared at his face curiously.
"Needless to say, be wary." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a slip of paper and placed it in her hand. "In fact, call this number if you see anything suspicious or out of the ordinary."
Ember looked down at the paper and squinted, trying to make out the numbers. "Will do, pops." She fiddled with the slip absently and then paused, "Wait, so you're some kind of police guy?" She raised a brow, "Are you a truck driver on the weekends too?"
Tim's mouth quirked into the smallest of smiles, "Something along those lines," he replied dryly.
"That's such a vague answer. You're a very vague person; in fact, your whole existence is vague. Are you sure you're human?" She narrowed her eyes and leaned forward to examine his face. He was trying to think of an easy way to change the subject without seeming suspicious when Ember held up a finger and crawled over to a set of bushes and threw up. The retching noise was anything but pleasant and caused Tim grimace in sympathy as he stood.
"Ugh, I think I just barfed my brains out," she groaned and slumped to the ground in a much undignified heap, but let's face it; dignity left the party seven drinks ago.
"You should go back inside if you are unwell," Tim stated firmly. He seemed to be channeling Ratchet a bit with a tight line of a mouth and eyebrows scrunched together in unease. Music spilled out from inside the apartment leaving Ember to wonder why none of her neighbors had complained yet. Really, the music was obnoxiously loud.
"To many," she mumbled.
"People?" he prompted quizzically. He stepped towards Ember hesitantly.
"S'mthin like that," she muttered jokingly.
Tim fell silent and watched the girl who was slumped on the ground and looking more than a little worse for wear. He was debating on his next course of action when the front door opened and Cody slipped out. He glanced at the two and paused before moving to kneel in front of Ember.
"I thought I'd let you know that Taylor's still going strong and that you are now officially a weak ass whiney bitch," Cody exclaimed good naturedly.
Tim stared uncomprehendingly at the young man while he blatantly insulted his friend. Ember only shrugged and lifted a clenched fist in what was most likely to be a threat. She dropped her hand and sighed dramatically.
"Whatever, I don't care, I just want my bed," she exclaimed.
"Fine," Cody said. He stood and pulled Ember to her feet and watched her to stumble back to the party.
"Bye Tim," Ember added before stepping back into the apartment. She didn't even spare him a glance of which Tim took no offence to after witnessing her drunken state. The door was shut behind her and Cody hunched his shoulders with a disbelieving look on his face, she had just left him alone to send off her unknown friend. He turned to look at the rather intimidating man and cleared his throat.
"Well, I guess I should go take care of her…" he trailed off, looking at the man expectantly.
"Tim," he provided simply.
"Right, I thought that's what she said, Tim…the guy who helped her the other day?" he lifted a brow in a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. He slid his hands into his pockets to warm them up, only now noticing the cold due to the tense atmosphere.
"Indeed," another simple response. There seemed to be a lot of disapproval in the single word and Cody felt as though he had just been lectured, granted he did not know what for.
"Oookay," his face was void of expression, "I see where this is going. Well thank you for helping her and I'll… uhhh…just stay out of your way then…" He took a step towards the door, looked back at the man once more as if to say something, then shook his head and stepped back into the apartment.
Tim stared at the door with a rather perplexed look on his face; he was unsure of the events that had just transpired. He had not meant to offend the young man but apparently he had taken his tone the wrong way.
Cody pushed the door open and was greeted by the familiar darkness of Ember's room. He could just barely make out her form, huddled on top of the bed. Feeling a bit concerned for her wellbeing (and more than a bit guilty) he moved over to her and rested a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to rouse her enough to apologize. She groaned and threw an arm out randomly, slapping him in the face.
"Ow! Where the hell did you get that aim?" He chuckled and touched his cheek.
"Your mom," she replied groggily.
"Of course you did," Cody pulled the messy covers over her and flicked her in the forehead. "Thanks, by the way for leaving me with Mr. Tall dark and scary as hell," he said cheerily. Ember only grunted and pulled the covers further over her face. He sat down on her bed and sighed; taking one of her hands in his own he rubbed at the smooth skin. The blinds were open, allowing strands of pale moon light to filter in and line the walls. Outside of the room, people cheered, but Cody sat unmoving.
"I fucking hate you Cody," she grumbled.
"I love you too," he shot back with a chuckle. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and leaned over, kissing her on the forehead. "Just don't let it go to your head."
Ember smiled in the darkness of her room that was oh so comforting and slipped into unconsciousness.