CHAPTER NINE, Strange Wake-Ups


It was awkward sharing a bed with the infamous villainess. At first. But the heroine quickly found that snuggling with the fire-starter had its perks.

Very warm and comfortable perks.

Kim woke to the emptiness of a house lost to sleep. A nest of velvety black filled her vision and tickled her nose. It smelled of mint and spices — savory, smokey, passionate — just like the woman it belonged to.

Shego laid sprawled on her front, arms draped to the sides, one over the edge of the mattress and the other around Kim's waist.

She was confused for a moment — What was she doing next to Shego? In bed!? — blushing before realizing they were both still decent.

Kim carefully untangled herself from around the woman, emotions whirling a mile a second, but no coherent thought became known to her.

She shuffled her way towards the main room.

What a start to the day.

Not that I mind, but... I don't know. Was she just being hormonal? Or was there something deeper going on?

Kim was hoping for the first, but she wasn't all that comfortable with the idea. Then again. The second one wasn't all that better, either. The devil you're used to, I guess.

The sound of a sliding door disturbed her thoughts.

"Morning," Talia greeted. There was a sheen of sweat blanketing her tan skin, creating dark spots on her tank top. Mud coated her sneakers and pants legs.

"Uh, morning..." the redhead replied. "I didn't realize anyone else was up yet."

"Yeah. I'm an early bird; I don't believe in caffeine so I need my morning runs or else I get grouchy - and no one likes me grouchy." She smiled brilliantly. An ominous shiver when down Kim's spine, making sure to remember that note. "But those two," she pointed down the hallway towards the bedrooms, "won't wake up unless it's noon." The blond made her way to the kitchen, digging out a pan. "Or if they smell food."

And sure enough, ten minutes later, with the smell of fresh coffee heavy in the air and the sizzling of bacon enticing their ears, the soft rumble of a running shower appeared.

Kim stared out the window, confined to the chair by the younger girl's eye-daggers. Bird calls and splattering droplets echoed through the floor-to-ceiling glass panes making up the majority of the living room walls, the hum of insects a constant white noise in the background. A bush rustled with activity, revealing a monkey scrounging before dashing up the nearest tree. "It's so beautiful here."

Despite having been here many times, the adventurer had never paid much attention to the lush scenery until now. It was hard to sight-see with the welfare of an entire village or the world imminent on you shoulders. She's never had the chance to really stop and just enjoy.

"Yeah. We come here pretty much every chance we get." They turned to the newcomer. "Out of all the vacation spots we have this one is probably the closest to a second home." Shego yawned, ruffling her wet hair with a towel. She looked at Talia. "Where's Keegan? Is she nerding out in your room?"

"Nope," the blond answered, popping the P like bubblegum. "Still snoozing away, like a baby. She's in one of those dead sleeps again."

The villainess grinned, wicked and mysterious.

Uh-oh...


The screech of a trumpet blared through the household. Keegan's body flailed spasmodically, tossing up blankets and pillows, getting intertwined, before falling off the bed.

The teen blinked up at the ceiling, dazed. What the fuck? "WHAT THE FUCK!"

The heckling coming from her open doorway said it all.

Now she was pissed. "God, damn it, Logan!"

A jolly Shego returned to the table, a bounce to her step and a trumpet in hand.

Kim gave her a questioning look. Talia wasn't even phased.

The green woman answered Kim's unspoken wonder. "My mom used to make me get up early to help her make breakfast. Then she'd get me to wake up my brothers. They could sleep through a missile exploding so I got creative after the second time I lost my voice trying to wake their lazy asses up." She grinned. "It's my favorite part of the day."

Kim took the invitation to converse, curious to learn more."Where'd you learn to play the trumpet?"

"My dad. It wasn't all bad being a military brat." A look of bittersweet nostalgia turned her eyes distant. "He was the one who got me addicted on music."

The low scuffing of feet on hardwood prevented the redhead from inquiring more.

Keegan shuffled slowly towards them, a cloud obviously hanging over her head. The unset girl plopped down into her seat, growling and pouting.

"Aw..." Talia kissed the brunette's crown, placing a cup of coffee in front of her. "Poor baby."

Clearly there was something going on between these two, says the blind man.

Keegan shot her an undignified look.

Shego snickered at their interaction, taking a sip of her own Joe.

That only earned her a glare.

"One of these days," Keegan hissed through clenched teeth, "I'm gonna invent a security system that even you can't break past."

The thief chuckled. "Not likely. But if that day ever comes, I'll gladly kiss your ass."

Smirking, Keegan called her out on the bet. "I'll hold you to that."

Breakfast continued on much like the last few meals. The table stacked full of white porcelain, a mountain of food before them. Shego and Keegan waited patiently as Talia and Kim filled their plates. Then the frenzy began and once again Kim was brought to a standstill at the pure ferocity and speed in which the two devoured their food.

It was like watching two sharks fighting to eat their fill before the other could steal it away, two forces of nature, primal and vicious and wild.

It was oddly fascinating.

"You're food's getting cold there, mate," Talia said, jolting her out of her daze. "I'd start eating if I were you, before the lions finish and set their eyes on it."

There seemed to be a system to everything within this household, an unspoken law, a natural order. It reminded Kim of the social order within many animal hierarchies.

Talia mainly took care of breakfast being the only who likes the morning, Shego would cook lunch and dinner and Keegan would be left to wash the dishes. On the rarer occasions when Keegan cooked Shego would trade places and be the one to clean. Everyone would help carry dishes to and from the table, but the one who cooked was free to only transport their own dish.

It really surprised Kim the amount of structure that was present. After a quick while of observation the three became almost predictable and over the next two days she learned a varying amount of knowledge about the three people housing her.

Keegan stuck to her and Talia's room most hours unless someone dragged her out with either threats or bribes. What she did in there Kim was not privy to due to being the stranger of the house and not wanting to push anymore then she already have. The brunette was generally quiet unless you can work the easily annoyed girl into a heated conversation and was a genius all way round though hates to admit it.

She was a lot like Shego in so many ways, both being child-like in their behavior and easily worked up over the smallest of things.

Talia, being the most mature of the trio, behaved beyond her years despite having a fondness for sliding suggestive comments towards her roommate just like Shego did with Kim. She preferred hanging out in the main room, either reading something on her tablet or doing some homework, occasionally disappearing to bug Keegan to come out of hiding. Of the group Kim and Talia got along best.

Keegan did share one trait with Kim, however: both were prudes and would blush from head to toe at the slightest innuendo, something their companions enjoyed greatly.

The Possible herself sat in the middle of it all, for the most part content to just watch the infamous villainess and how a little more of the mystery unraveled before her eyes with every minute. She had learned that there was more to the villainess than meets the eye. Underneath the rude manners, crude comments, and endless sarcasm was liars and liars of a woman more complicated than space even as she laid out on the bend of the L shaped couch she had claimed, flipping through a magazine or surfing TV channels with enough speed to give Kim whiplash. Underneath the jump suit and deadly glowing hands was a woman more beautiful than Kim ever imagine. With each passing day the redhead found her feelings growing more and more for the green-skinned thief, and the scariest thing of all was Kim didn't know if she wanted to stop it.