Look who's here!
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She woke after a harsh nudge in the side. Prying open her eyes took a great deal of willpower, and after the effort she wasn't sure that it had been worth it. The problem was that the world was still very dark. It was not supposed to be dark when she woke up; it wasn't even supposed to be dawn. Golden sunshine was supposed to greet her, not the dim light from the oven light. But here it was, still dark and she was forced awake, and even forced to sit up to stop that toe from digging under her ribs. Damn obnoxious houseguests and their inability to recognize rational sleeping times.
"What?" she asked fuzzily as she rearranged her jacket. "'S early. Go 'way."
"I thought you didn't need much sleep," came the bemused voice from above.
"Need some. What do you want?" she asked, her voice becoming clearer the more she used it.
"Did you have a nice evening last night? You came in rather late. We had all had a very full day and decided to not wait up for you." His tone was bored, but there was an edge to it she would have had to have been deaf to miss. Someone wasn't happy that she had ducked out last night.
"That's fine." He could stay not happy. Serves him right for waking her so early.
"We thought that there would be enough room for you to join us on your bed, but I guess you felt that it would be better to sleep out here. On the floor. With your… human."
Anne sighed. "He's not a possession, Knives. He's a friend."
"A good friend."
"Good enough to want to kill me. But then, who doesn't?" she asked rhetorically.
"I don't think that you've managed to piss Alex off yet."
"I've only known him a few hours. Give me a day, I'm sure I can do something." She paused a second as she tried to gather her wits. "Is there any great reason you had to wake me up at such a god awful hour?"
"If you get to work early, you can leave early. Then we will have more time with you."
"You'll have more time with a sleep deprived bitch, you mean."
He didn't say anything, but she got the feeling that he shrugged. "We'll take what we can get. Funny how what we get seems to be whatever is left over after you do all the more important things."
"Like what? My job?"
"What's with that crazy band excuse?"
"It's not an excuse," she said huffily. "I sing. And I play the bass now, too, since our last player got pregnant and didn't have time to play anymore."
"You sing terribly, if I recall correctly."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "I never said I was good. If it was a normal practice I would have blown it off. But we have a real gig tomorrow. That pays, even! You have no idea what that means."
"That you'll be dashing off after work tomorrow and we won't get to see you then, either?"
She sighed. "What's your problem? You were ignoring me last night, anyway. It's not like you care if I'm here or not."
"I want you where I can see you."
"Lots of people do," she mumbled. "Why? Trying to figure out what to do with me?"
"Yes."
She snorted. "You don't get to do anything with me. I thought I had made this clear: You do not control me. You have no hold on me. I am not your toy, or your pet, or your rival, or whatever you want me to be in that strange blonde head of yours. I get to do what I want, and you get to figure out how that fits into your life."
"No."
"What?"
"You don't get to just do whatever you want."
"Why not?"
"Because you have a responsibility to us."
"Excuse me?" she laughed as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to get rid of that bed hair feeling. "How do you figure that?"
"You don't get to just show up one day, change our lives, and then take yourself out of the picture. That's not fair."
"Who cares about fair, plant-boy? I can leave, and you can live with it."
"No."
"You can't stop me."
"I can't stop you from moving, but I can stop you from leaving."
"How?… no. You are not going to follow me."
"If I have to."
"No." She rested her head in her hands as silence stretched between them. "I didn't mean to be gone for so long," she mumbled.
He said nothing.
"I missed you guys."
"There were times that we wished you were around," he allowed.
"Like when?"
He thought for a moment. "Like when Alex was born. They made me help with the delivery. I cannot think of a more disgusting thing I have ever done."
"So I should have done it?"
"Well… you are a female, too."
"And that makes it all better?" She shuddered. "The thought of pregnancy nauseates me."
"You don't want children?"
"Knives, in what way do you think I would make a good mother? I had my chance, and I ran. Do you think it would be fair, or just selfish of me to try again?"
"I thought all women wanted children."
"Anytime I ever feel that urge, I can just remember that I have you around. And I hear that real kids are even worse." She faked a shudder and was rewarded by hearing his little snot of annoyance.
She had missed that.