Four: Around the House

Kaye squished Rúmil into an office chair, and for nearly three hours, sat there with him, thinking. Her watch beeped at five o'clock, and the elf jumped in a fit of anxiety. Recovering himself, he tapped Kaye on the shoulder, whom seemed to find the wall very interesting. She turned from the wall to see what he wanted.

"My return home does not seem possible at the moment."

She sighed, and looked him over once. "I couldn't come up with a plausible solution either."

Rúmil stood up. "Well then, I must go. Thank you for your hospitality."

She perked up in surprise. "Wait, go where? I though you didn't know how to get home?"

"I do not, but I've overstayed, and it is necessary to find a way on my own."

She stood up too, not believing what she was hearing. "It's unlikely you'll find a way home here, or in a corn field for that matter. Master Elf, you are staying here, with me."

"You are kind but-"

"I am not letting you leave this property. You dropped in on me, and its your job to stay here until a way home comes up."

"If you wish it to be so, my lady."

"I do."

"Okay," he said with a grin, and plopped back down in the chair.

Immediately his stomach let out a loud empty gurgle, and Kaye heard it.

"Would you like something to eat?"

"I would appreciate it."

"Follow me," she chirped, and pulled him toward the stairs.

Forty minutes later, both of them were sitting at a fully set dinner table, getting ready to eat. She sat across from the elf, watching him examine the glass of milk, and poke tentatively at the spaghetti and garlic bread on his plate.

"Try it," she suggested, smiling.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked with an eyebrow lifted.

"You're so confounded that it's adorable," she answered. "Don't worry, I didn't poison it."

He gave her one last glance, and picked up his fork. After several attempts and slippery tries, the spaghetti was finally on his fork, and he slurped it into his mouth.

Sauce encased his mouth, and his eyes lit up. "This is fairly good."

"Thank you."

"It's quite unusual, but-"

"Oh no!" Kaye said, noticing it was six o'clock. "Rúmil, take all of your dinner and come with me."

He seemed confused, but did as he was told, trailing her upstairs where they stopped in her room. She opened her closet door, and gestured him inside.

"Why is this necessary?"

"My mother is supposed to be here in several minutes. Stay in here, don't touch anything, and be quiet."

"May I still eat?" He sat down and peered up at her expectantly. She nodded, and thus encouraged, he rook a big bite of bread, grinning up at her like a cheeky squirrel.

"Awww," she said, and shut the door.

Simultaneously, her dogs began barking as the front door opened, and she heard the voices of her mother and sister. Quickly she scrambled downstairs to greet them. She found a tall brown haired woman putting away her coat, and a bouncy twelve year old with braids, swamped by all three of the dogs. Kaye nabbed Eris the Irish Terrier off of her sister, but promptly tripped over Lucky the poodle mutt and landed on her back.

"Hi Kaye."

Her sister's face appeared above hers, wearing an amused grin.

"Hey Holly."

"I smell food," Holly said excitedly. "What's for dinner?"

Kaye got to her feet, and held up Eris. "This dog."

"No really," her sister squeaked, beginning to bounce on the tips of her toes.

Letting go of the dog, she surveyed her sister with a wary look. "Whoa…Ok who gave you sugar this time?"

"Julie." Her sister patted the side pockets of her pants, which were obviously bulging with candy.

"Don't eat anymore of that, you probably won't be able to eat dessert now."

The girl's eyes flew open. "You didn't make Garlic Bread did you? Cause I wouldn't have-"

"No, but if the Cubs win I will. Then we can stuff ourselves and watch the game."

"That's an evil bet, you know they should lose," Holly groaned.

"My dear sister, you know very well that I've done this before. I'd say your brainwashing is coming along very well."

An evil smile appeared on the girl's face; she immediately dug in her pockets, and held out a fistful of candy. "Bet you five bucks and a fist of sugar the Cubs lose."

"Deal," Kaye said with an arrogant nod, and reached for her sister's hand. "I'll take that now since that's bet I'm going to win-"

"Girls!" interrupted their mother. Both of them froze and innocently gazed at her. "Kaye what did I tell you about gambling with your sister?"

Kaye bawked and said resentfully, "Are you kidding? This shrimp has cheated me out of a hundred bucks, twice!"

"I am not-"

"Holly, go upstairs and wash your hands," her mother commanded.

"Yes Mom," the girl grumbled, and stomped toward the stairs.

When the girl was out of earshot, her mother faced her. "Kaye, I do smell dinner. You didn't have to go through so much trouble."

"Mom, funny thing is, it never is too much trouble for me to take time out of my day to do it. Things like that seem to be hard for you though."

The woman slightly frowned. "I know I promised to take off and do something with you since you had the day off from school. I was called to the office last minute; there was a strange accident on that expressway by our office building."

"Mom, it's okay," she said, losing her resolve. "I understand that your being a journalist requires you to sacrifice a lot. Please understand that I have had to take care of Holly for the last five years, and am so used to it, that it's become my responsibility."

"Well, at least you've had a lot more free time since she joined the team at school-"

Holly appeared abruptly at the foot of the stairs, breaking off their tense conversation.

"You two fight like a couple of old ladies," she snickered.

"We weren't," Kaye lied.

Her sister wrinkled her nose. "Don't act like I'm so little. I'm old enough to know what's really going on."

Her older sister shook her head. "Uh huh. So that's why you're down there-" she lowered her hand to Holly's height, then raised it high above her own head. "And I'm up here."

"If being up there makes you so amazing," Holly smirked. "Then why do I get the best table spot?"

Without warning, the two sisters broke for the dinner table, and simultaneously sat in the same chair. Holly ended up under Kaye.

"Argh, you mean teen! Get off me," she moaned. The older girl did not move. Jokingly Holly called to their mother, "MOM! KAYE'S SITTING ON ME!"

"Oh, but I was trying to squish you," Kaye hissed. "I have quite a taste right now for a kid's meal!!"

"AHHHHHH-"

"Girls," scolded their mother as she came in the kitchen. "Sit down and eat."

"Alright, don't get your underwear in a knot," Kaye grumbled, exchanging a regular chair in place of her "Holly seat".

Halfway through the meal they began discussing their day, and Kaye of course left out information regarding Rúmil's arrival.

"-then I made dinner and read a book upstairs."

"Sounds fun," Holly interjected sarcastically.

Their mother leaned forward. "Guess what I happened-"

"BURRRPPPPP!"

A loud belch echoed from the floors above. Kaye dropped her fork in horror.

"What in heaven's name was that?" asked her mother in astonishment.

Anxiously Kaye fidgeted and sat up. "Oh! I left that movie on, stupid me! I'll go turn it off."

"BUUURRRPPPPP!"

"Please do," her mother said, covering her ears.

"Sounds cool," Holly piped. "Can I watch it with you later?"

"Um no," Kaye said, leaping from her table and running for her room.

She slammed her bedroom door behind her, and flung open the closet. The Elf was sitting on her floor, holding a cleanly licked plate. He looked up at her expectantly.

Resisting the urge to scream, she asked seething, "Rúmil why the heck did you burp? How the heck did you burp that loud? Especially since you're an Elf?"

" It's one of my talents."

"Or you just have the gross abilities of the male race," she snapped. "I wouldn't surprised if you could honk with your armpits- but that's not the point. Remember, quiet or-"

She made slicing motion in the air. His eyes opened wide, and she closed the door.

At eight o'clock, Kaye returned to her room to spend some time with the Elf, who was likely still sitting in her closet.

"Rúmil," she called softly as she opened the closet door.

No answer came, and she turned on the overhead light. She saw him curled up on the floor rug, with his head on one of her handbags, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Rúmil?" she asked worriedly. He didn't answer, but an ear twitched.

"You faker, c'mon get up," she said expectantly.

He remained that way. Fear rising in her that he might be dead, she shook him roughly. "Rúmil! Wake up!"

Immediately he blinked, and she fell over in alarm. The elf groaned and sat up.

"My lady? What's wrong?"

"Oh," Kaye said, embarrassed. "I um, thought you were dead or something. Suffocated by a stupid author in her closet. What an obituary that would've been."

He let out an amused snort, and she squinted at him. "What?"

"Nothing," he chuckled. "I was not dead, but merely asleep."

"You sleep with your eyes open?" she asked, flabbergasted.

"Yes, all elves do."

"Whoa that's scary," Kaye said, and stood up. "Let's get you out of this closet."

"I am permitted to leave?" he whispered, leaping up.

"No."

"I must," he said with a hint of panic. "I have business to attend to."

"Like what?" she asked suspiciously.

Rúmil scuffed the carpet with a foot. "I need to pee."

Her eyes went wide. "Holy crap! Wait, are you housebroken?"