Chapter 4: Earning Your Keep
"WAKE UP!!!!!!!!" Li called as she dumped a bit of ice water on Jack's head.
He shot up and yelled, "Yes Captain!" He blinked a couple of times and realized that it was not his commanding overlord, but the wytch that was letting him stay in her house. "What the bloody hell do you want?" he groaned, before slapping himself mentally for yelling at Li. She was a lady after all.
"Well," Li began, "today you and Elizabeth and Will are going to get jobs at Strawberry Banke. I can't keep you all here on just my salary. So you guys need to start earning your keep."
Jack stared at her for a minute, as if translating her words to his language (what ever that was). "One tiny problem with your brilliant scheme. I know nothing about the future. And neither do Will or Elizabeth," Jack pointed out.
"That's why you are going to work at Strawberry Banke! It's like a little piece of your time, plopped into the middle of mine!" Li exclaimed.
"You are way to bouncy and happy for a normal person at this time. The sun has barely come up," Jack said, pointing to the open window, where the sun had indeed, just came over the horizon.
"Well duh. That might be because I'm not a normal person." Li said, as if it was obvious. "Now get up. Will and Elizabeth have been up for an hour and you have to get up now or I'm going to leave you here and you won't get any food or drink until you get a job." Li threatened.
"I stand by what I said last night. You would have made a great pirate and captain," Jack muttered as he stood and stretched. "I'll be out in a few minutes." When Li didn't move he looked at her in annoyance. "That means leave."
"Well you can change behind that screen. I don't trust you not to fall back asleep when I leave the room." Li sat down on his bed.
"Can you *please* leave?" Jack asked, trying the polite angle.
"Once again, I am disinclined to acquiest to your request," Li denied.
"You have got to be the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great- granddaughter of Barbosa. He said that too," Jack said. "Of course, he never had kids, so you might have a little bit of trouble with all of the 'great's." Jack added.
"If you don't pick out your clothes I will," Li decided. "You are completely off the subject of getting you a job," she scolded as she pulled out a pair of black jeans and a dark red shirt. "Here. Now go change," Li said, pointing to the changing screen, which unfolded it's self at her point.
"Yes, Captain," Jack muttered as he took the clothes that she was shoving at him.
Li lay back on his bed, listening to him mutter about feeling like a cabin boy again, and how he was a captain, he shouldn't be forced to wake up at all hours of the morning. She pulled the pillow that he had used towards her and put it over her face. It smelt like sea mist, with a hint of rum. She closed her eyes and decided that that was a bad idea, because she was tired enough to fall asleep. Morgan had decided to pay a surprise visit last night, meaning that her body had gotten MAYBE five hours of sleep.
"If you wanted to use the pillow, you could have asked," Jack said, laughing, making Li pull the pillow off of her face. He had finished changing and Li had to admit that he looked hot in modern clothes.
"Morgan paid me a visit last night, so I got very little sleep," Li explained.
"Is Morgan a ghost, or what?" Jack asked, sitting down next to Li.
"If she was a ghost, I would be too. Morgan is a part of me. I have multiple personalities, and Morgan is my alter ego," Li explained.
"And so if you and her are one in the same, why is she in the mirrors and you aren't?" Jack asked, looking down at her.
"She is the one that doesn't get to come out as much. So, we made a spell that would let her inhabit the mirrors when she wasn't in charge of our body." Li shrugged. "But none of that matters. What matters is that I get off this bed because I am going to fall asleep if I don't." Li struggled to sit up, even though her head felt like it weighed at least ten times more then her body. She managed to prop her self up on her elbows under the observant gaze of Jack.
"If you are really that tired, sleep. We can wake you up later," Jack offered.
"No can do. I set up a meeting with my boss for 8am. I can sleep when we get home," Li said, although she made no move to get up any further. "All I need is a nice, strong cup of caffeine enhanced coffee."
"Do you want me to go get you a cup?" Jack asked, concern lacing his voice.
"No, I need to go cook breakfast anyway. Elizabeth has probably never cooked anything in her life." Li managed to stand and felt the world go around a couple of times before coming to a complete stop. "Now that the world has stopped moving, let's go get some chow." Li led Jack out of the room and down the many stairs. She walked into the kitchen to find Will and Elizabeth kissing in one of the plush chairs that Li had decided to unorthodoxly put in her kitchen.
"I so did not need that visual!" Li exclaimed as the couple realized that they were no longer alone.
"Sorry. . ." Elizabeth murmured. She was dressed in the first outfit that she and Li had found in her size. It was a red sheer dress that had gold satin underneath the sheer and Li had soon found a pair of gold high-heels to match.
"I told you that the outfit wouldn't be too flashy!" Li exclaimed after the couple had moved a little farther apart. She bustled around the kitchen, her forest green dress swirling around her as she tried to find where she had put the flour for her waffles. "I know that you guys have most likely never had waffles before, but I'm willing to take the chance that you will like them."
When she was done with the batter, she pulled out the waffle maker and started the first one, warning the others not to touch it until it beeped, because if they did, they wouldn't be able to touch any thing else for the rest of the day. She then moved on to get her self the coffee that she had promised her head. Grabbing the biggest mug that she had (which is pretty big, maybe 18 oz.), she filled it ¾ of the way and added as much cream and sugar that she could, before sinking into one of the comfy chairs.
"Do you guys want some tea, coffee, juice?" Li offered after taking a gulp.
"I'll have some tea," Elizabeth replied.
"Same here," Will said, sitting at the table with Elizabeth behind him.
"I'll have some of that coffee," Jack said as he sat in one of the chairs backwards.
"Two teas and a coffee, coming right up," Li said as she stood get put the tea kettle on the stove for the tea. Miming her actions from earlier, she filled another mug with coffee, cream and sugar. She handed the mug to Jack, before taking the now finished waffle out of the maker and starting another.
"This stuff is good," Jack said approvingly as he took a gulp of the coffee.
"I should hope so," Li smirked as she flipped another waffle on to the plate of finished waffles. "It costs at least $41 a pound. Here you go," she said as she placed three plates of waffles down in front of her guests. "And here is the maple syrup--" she was cut short by the tea kettle, which had announced its boiling temperate with a shrill whistle. Li hurried to pour two cups of water and put the teabags in them. Setting the cups down in front Will and Elizabeth, she sat herself down with her coffee and a plate of waffles.
Her houseguests watched curiously as she poured maple syrup onto her plate. She did the same for each of them and cut up her waffle, watching them do the same. Cutting was something that they knew how to do. Elizabeth took the first bite and let out a gasp of surprise.
"This is so good!" she exclaimed, taking another bite.
"Yes, it is," agreed Will, who was eating it as fast as he could while still being polite.
Li turned to Jack, who was chewing thoughtfully. "Well, Captain? Do you think that it is good enough for your Excellency?" Li teased, reminding him of his mutterings from behind the screen.
"I would be much obliged if you did not bring back memories of my rude awakening," Jack sniffed as he took another bite of the waffles.
"I take that as a yes," Li decided, smirking. "As soon as we are all done, we are going to leave for Strawberry Banke. And then I am going to take a nap."
The group finished quickly and hurried out the door, Li grabbing her purse and keys.
When they got to Strawberry Banke, Elizabeth, Will, and Jack were amazed that it looked like their time.
"Okay," Li said, grouping them around her. "Here are the ground rules. No mentioning that you are from another time to any one. No mentioning that I am a wytch. And PLEASE do not mention Morgan, whatever you do. Okay?"
They all nodded and Li turned to lead the way into the main office.
"Hello! May?" Li called, knocking on a screen door. Someone running into something, a crash, and muffled screams for help could be heard through the door. Li stifled a laugh as a 5'10" young man came to the door.
"Hello, Heero. How was the coffee yesterday?" Li snickered.
"Just fine. How was the Bunny-Rabbit Episode? I still haven't heard a full recount of it." Heero's eyes glinted with mischief, but his face stayed perfectly straight.
"Hahaha. Not funny," Li retorted. "Is May there? I was supposed to talk to her about getting jobs for my new houseguests. You don't pay me enough to keep up with four people, instead of the normal one that lives in my house."
"She will be out in a few minutes. I think that she ran into the coat rack again," Heero replied as he chanced a look behind him.
"While we are waiting for her, I have a few questions. One is what are you going to do for you and May's 4th anniversary? It *is* coming up in a few days." Li asked, quietly.
"We're going to Prescott Park. The Blue Man Group is playing. You know how much she loves them," Heero responded, just as silently.
"And for two," Li continued in a normal voice. "What is this I hear about Zoe getting a raise? She has only been working here for a year, she took at least 3 weeks more vacation than what she was supposed to, and YOU promised me that I would be getting the next raise." She stared accusingly at Heero, waiting for his reply.
"But that was only if you-know-who didn't come out when you were on the job," he reminded.
"She only came out once! And that was when I was locking up and there was no one around to see her and she didn't hurt anything!" Li cried.
"But you hadn't checked out yet. So you were still on the job." Heero remained stubborn as he looked over his shoulder again.
Li grumbled under her breath about stupid alter egos that don't know when they aren't wanted and how she was going to have to have a long talk with someone when they got home. She was still going on and on about this when a medium height blonde walked to the door.
"Li! What are you doing?!" the woman exclaimed.
Jack, Will and Elizabeth all had taken a few steps away from Li, because the bush next to her had burst into flames.
Li looked down at the bush, having been snapped out of her trance of mutterings. "Sorry?" she said meekly as she put out the flame.
"My girl, you give a new meaning to the term, 'explosive temper'," the blonde informed her. "You are *so* lucky that none of the other workers or guests are here yet. I would have had your hide for that."
"But May!" Li whined. "Heero told me that I don't get a raise because the stupid twit that we all know and hate came out when I closing up. She left after she realized where I was!"
"But we had a deal," May reminded her.
"Whatever. Can we talk inside? I don't want the whole city to know about my abnormalcy," Li asked.
"Come in," May agreed as she opened the screen door for them.
Everyone trooped inside to discuss salaries for the three that had yet to speak.
~*~
"As a quick summary, they work 5 days a week, and they will get $500 a week each, which I agree is reasonable because they are beginners. Jack will work in the sea captain's house, Will in the blacksmith's hut, and Elizabeth in the Smith House. Am I correct?" Li asked after about 30 minutes.
"Yup. You are correct," May said. "Now that that is all squared away, what are you guys doing tonight? A local band is playing at Prescott Park and they are supposed to be very good."
"We are free," Li said. "Unless you three are too tired," she added.
"Sounds like fun," Elizabeth said as the men nodded at the same time.
"Then it's settled. We'll see you there," May said as they rose to leave. "Now, I have to go let Zoe know about the raise." She hide a grin as Li started to fume.
"May," Li started. "Do you like that desk?"
"Yes. . ."
"Then you will drop the whole raise thing, unless you want to see it implode with flames," Li warned her best friend.
"I'll see you tonight," May said as she hurried everyone out of her office.
"Later," Li waved as she led the way to her car.
When they got home, Li went to go change into normal clothes, because she had only dressed in her work clothes so that May wouldn't be able to find anything wrong with her appearance.
She stalked back down to the kitchen, where Jack was sitting while the other couple took a walk through Li's gardens.
Jack watched with amusement as Li slammed around her kitchen, washing the dishes from that morning and making a pot of tea, all the while muttering about her boss. When the tea was done, she banged two cups down on the table, along with the pot. She threw herself into the chair next to Jack and started to pour out her tea.
"Love, am I correct when I guess that you aren't too happy with May and Heero?" Jack asked as he poured his own tea.
"I have been after that raise for 3 years," Li informed him. "And whenever it comes time to dish it out, they always find someone else who they feel is more qualified." She took a sip of her tea and promptly spit it back out, having burned her tongue on it.
"Now that was rather foolish, wasn't it?" Jack asked as he handed her a napkin to wipe her chin with. In return, he got a look almost as scalding as the tea. "Well, I was only trying to lighten the mood," Jack said. "Let me see it."
"See what?" Li asked.
"The wounded limb." Jack had to stifle a laugh as Li glared at him and stuck out her tongue, looking for all the world like a three year old that was being teased by her older brother.
"I think that you'll live," Jack chuckled as his inspection of the wound came to an end.
"I'm thrilled," Li replied sarcastically. "I'll keep that in mind next time I burn my tongue."
"You can't die from a burnt tongue," Jack protested. "Well, you can if it swells up to the size of a pickle and you can't eat or drink or breathe. THEN you can die," he added thoughtfully.
"Right. . ." Li trailed off. She had decided that this man was definitely insane, with good reason, too. "So, what are you going to wear tonight?"
"I have to wear something special?" Jack asked, a look of confusion in his eyes.
"Well, we're going out to Prescott Park. And don't you want to be able to pick up girls?" Li said as if it were obvious.
"No." Jack shook his head. "Why would I want to do that?"
"Because you are a guy. Guys normally like to pick up girls," Li explained.
"But I don't want to pick up girls. I like you and you've got to be one of the prettiest girls there," Jack protested, not realizing what he was saying.
"Thank you!" Li exclaimed, giving Jack a hug. "That is so sweet. I'm glad that you like me."
""That was a rather productive slip of tongue, aye, Jack?" Will laughed from the door.
Li quickly let go of Jack and resumed drinking her tea. "Do you two lovebirds want some tea?" she asked, looking at them. "The cups are in the second cupboard." She pointed to the cabinet and took another sip of tea.
"When we are done," Elizabeth started. "Li and I need to go pick out clothes for tonight."
"Why are we picking out my clothes?" Li asked warily.
"Because it's a surprise," Elizabeth grinned with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
*****************************************************************
Yet another long chapter on my part. I hope that you liked it and I want to thank all of my reviewers for their constructive criticism. And to Bowie's Leper Messiah: I'm glad that you didn't think that I came off haughty. I try to be as nice as possible. . . However that plan is easily thwarted when people get on my nerves. : )
Well, read & review!
~*~Lady Lirimaer Malfoy~*~
"WAKE UP!!!!!!!!" Li called as she dumped a bit of ice water on Jack's head.
He shot up and yelled, "Yes Captain!" He blinked a couple of times and realized that it was not his commanding overlord, but the wytch that was letting him stay in her house. "What the bloody hell do you want?" he groaned, before slapping himself mentally for yelling at Li. She was a lady after all.
"Well," Li began, "today you and Elizabeth and Will are going to get jobs at Strawberry Banke. I can't keep you all here on just my salary. So you guys need to start earning your keep."
Jack stared at her for a minute, as if translating her words to his language (what ever that was). "One tiny problem with your brilliant scheme. I know nothing about the future. And neither do Will or Elizabeth," Jack pointed out.
"That's why you are going to work at Strawberry Banke! It's like a little piece of your time, plopped into the middle of mine!" Li exclaimed.
"You are way to bouncy and happy for a normal person at this time. The sun has barely come up," Jack said, pointing to the open window, where the sun had indeed, just came over the horizon.
"Well duh. That might be because I'm not a normal person." Li said, as if it was obvious. "Now get up. Will and Elizabeth have been up for an hour and you have to get up now or I'm going to leave you here and you won't get any food or drink until you get a job." Li threatened.
"I stand by what I said last night. You would have made a great pirate and captain," Jack muttered as he stood and stretched. "I'll be out in a few minutes." When Li didn't move he looked at her in annoyance. "That means leave."
"Well you can change behind that screen. I don't trust you not to fall back asleep when I leave the room." Li sat down on his bed.
"Can you *please* leave?" Jack asked, trying the polite angle.
"Once again, I am disinclined to acquiest to your request," Li denied.
"You have got to be the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great- granddaughter of Barbosa. He said that too," Jack said. "Of course, he never had kids, so you might have a little bit of trouble with all of the 'great's." Jack added.
"If you don't pick out your clothes I will," Li decided. "You are completely off the subject of getting you a job," she scolded as she pulled out a pair of black jeans and a dark red shirt. "Here. Now go change," Li said, pointing to the changing screen, which unfolded it's self at her point.
"Yes, Captain," Jack muttered as he took the clothes that she was shoving at him.
Li lay back on his bed, listening to him mutter about feeling like a cabin boy again, and how he was a captain, he shouldn't be forced to wake up at all hours of the morning. She pulled the pillow that he had used towards her and put it over her face. It smelt like sea mist, with a hint of rum. She closed her eyes and decided that that was a bad idea, because she was tired enough to fall asleep. Morgan had decided to pay a surprise visit last night, meaning that her body had gotten MAYBE five hours of sleep.
"If you wanted to use the pillow, you could have asked," Jack said, laughing, making Li pull the pillow off of her face. He had finished changing and Li had to admit that he looked hot in modern clothes.
"Morgan paid me a visit last night, so I got very little sleep," Li explained.
"Is Morgan a ghost, or what?" Jack asked, sitting down next to Li.
"If she was a ghost, I would be too. Morgan is a part of me. I have multiple personalities, and Morgan is my alter ego," Li explained.
"And so if you and her are one in the same, why is she in the mirrors and you aren't?" Jack asked, looking down at her.
"She is the one that doesn't get to come out as much. So, we made a spell that would let her inhabit the mirrors when she wasn't in charge of our body." Li shrugged. "But none of that matters. What matters is that I get off this bed because I am going to fall asleep if I don't." Li struggled to sit up, even though her head felt like it weighed at least ten times more then her body. She managed to prop her self up on her elbows under the observant gaze of Jack.
"If you are really that tired, sleep. We can wake you up later," Jack offered.
"No can do. I set up a meeting with my boss for 8am. I can sleep when we get home," Li said, although she made no move to get up any further. "All I need is a nice, strong cup of caffeine enhanced coffee."
"Do you want me to go get you a cup?" Jack asked, concern lacing his voice.
"No, I need to go cook breakfast anyway. Elizabeth has probably never cooked anything in her life." Li managed to stand and felt the world go around a couple of times before coming to a complete stop. "Now that the world has stopped moving, let's go get some chow." Li led Jack out of the room and down the many stairs. She walked into the kitchen to find Will and Elizabeth kissing in one of the plush chairs that Li had decided to unorthodoxly put in her kitchen.
"I so did not need that visual!" Li exclaimed as the couple realized that they were no longer alone.
"Sorry. . ." Elizabeth murmured. She was dressed in the first outfit that she and Li had found in her size. It was a red sheer dress that had gold satin underneath the sheer and Li had soon found a pair of gold high-heels to match.
"I told you that the outfit wouldn't be too flashy!" Li exclaimed after the couple had moved a little farther apart. She bustled around the kitchen, her forest green dress swirling around her as she tried to find where she had put the flour for her waffles. "I know that you guys have most likely never had waffles before, but I'm willing to take the chance that you will like them."
When she was done with the batter, she pulled out the waffle maker and started the first one, warning the others not to touch it until it beeped, because if they did, they wouldn't be able to touch any thing else for the rest of the day. She then moved on to get her self the coffee that she had promised her head. Grabbing the biggest mug that she had (which is pretty big, maybe 18 oz.), she filled it ¾ of the way and added as much cream and sugar that she could, before sinking into one of the comfy chairs.
"Do you guys want some tea, coffee, juice?" Li offered after taking a gulp.
"I'll have some tea," Elizabeth replied.
"Same here," Will said, sitting at the table with Elizabeth behind him.
"I'll have some of that coffee," Jack said as he sat in one of the chairs backwards.
"Two teas and a coffee, coming right up," Li said as she stood get put the tea kettle on the stove for the tea. Miming her actions from earlier, she filled another mug with coffee, cream and sugar. She handed the mug to Jack, before taking the now finished waffle out of the maker and starting another.
"This stuff is good," Jack said approvingly as he took a gulp of the coffee.
"I should hope so," Li smirked as she flipped another waffle on to the plate of finished waffles. "It costs at least $41 a pound. Here you go," she said as she placed three plates of waffles down in front of her guests. "And here is the maple syrup--" she was cut short by the tea kettle, which had announced its boiling temperate with a shrill whistle. Li hurried to pour two cups of water and put the teabags in them. Setting the cups down in front Will and Elizabeth, she sat herself down with her coffee and a plate of waffles.
Her houseguests watched curiously as she poured maple syrup onto her plate. She did the same for each of them and cut up her waffle, watching them do the same. Cutting was something that they knew how to do. Elizabeth took the first bite and let out a gasp of surprise.
"This is so good!" she exclaimed, taking another bite.
"Yes, it is," agreed Will, who was eating it as fast as he could while still being polite.
Li turned to Jack, who was chewing thoughtfully. "Well, Captain? Do you think that it is good enough for your Excellency?" Li teased, reminding him of his mutterings from behind the screen.
"I would be much obliged if you did not bring back memories of my rude awakening," Jack sniffed as he took another bite of the waffles.
"I take that as a yes," Li decided, smirking. "As soon as we are all done, we are going to leave for Strawberry Banke. And then I am going to take a nap."
The group finished quickly and hurried out the door, Li grabbing her purse and keys.
When they got to Strawberry Banke, Elizabeth, Will, and Jack were amazed that it looked like their time.
"Okay," Li said, grouping them around her. "Here are the ground rules. No mentioning that you are from another time to any one. No mentioning that I am a wytch. And PLEASE do not mention Morgan, whatever you do. Okay?"
They all nodded and Li turned to lead the way into the main office.
"Hello! May?" Li called, knocking on a screen door. Someone running into something, a crash, and muffled screams for help could be heard through the door. Li stifled a laugh as a 5'10" young man came to the door.
"Hello, Heero. How was the coffee yesterday?" Li snickered.
"Just fine. How was the Bunny-Rabbit Episode? I still haven't heard a full recount of it." Heero's eyes glinted with mischief, but his face stayed perfectly straight.
"Hahaha. Not funny," Li retorted. "Is May there? I was supposed to talk to her about getting jobs for my new houseguests. You don't pay me enough to keep up with four people, instead of the normal one that lives in my house."
"She will be out in a few minutes. I think that she ran into the coat rack again," Heero replied as he chanced a look behind him.
"While we are waiting for her, I have a few questions. One is what are you going to do for you and May's 4th anniversary? It *is* coming up in a few days." Li asked, quietly.
"We're going to Prescott Park. The Blue Man Group is playing. You know how much she loves them," Heero responded, just as silently.
"And for two," Li continued in a normal voice. "What is this I hear about Zoe getting a raise? She has only been working here for a year, she took at least 3 weeks more vacation than what she was supposed to, and YOU promised me that I would be getting the next raise." She stared accusingly at Heero, waiting for his reply.
"But that was only if you-know-who didn't come out when you were on the job," he reminded.
"She only came out once! And that was when I was locking up and there was no one around to see her and she didn't hurt anything!" Li cried.
"But you hadn't checked out yet. So you were still on the job." Heero remained stubborn as he looked over his shoulder again.
Li grumbled under her breath about stupid alter egos that don't know when they aren't wanted and how she was going to have to have a long talk with someone when they got home. She was still going on and on about this when a medium height blonde walked to the door.
"Li! What are you doing?!" the woman exclaimed.
Jack, Will and Elizabeth all had taken a few steps away from Li, because the bush next to her had burst into flames.
Li looked down at the bush, having been snapped out of her trance of mutterings. "Sorry?" she said meekly as she put out the flame.
"My girl, you give a new meaning to the term, 'explosive temper'," the blonde informed her. "You are *so* lucky that none of the other workers or guests are here yet. I would have had your hide for that."
"But May!" Li whined. "Heero told me that I don't get a raise because the stupid twit that we all know and hate came out when I closing up. She left after she realized where I was!"
"But we had a deal," May reminded her.
"Whatever. Can we talk inside? I don't want the whole city to know about my abnormalcy," Li asked.
"Come in," May agreed as she opened the screen door for them.
Everyone trooped inside to discuss salaries for the three that had yet to speak.
~*~
"As a quick summary, they work 5 days a week, and they will get $500 a week each, which I agree is reasonable because they are beginners. Jack will work in the sea captain's house, Will in the blacksmith's hut, and Elizabeth in the Smith House. Am I correct?" Li asked after about 30 minutes.
"Yup. You are correct," May said. "Now that that is all squared away, what are you guys doing tonight? A local band is playing at Prescott Park and they are supposed to be very good."
"We are free," Li said. "Unless you three are too tired," she added.
"Sounds like fun," Elizabeth said as the men nodded at the same time.
"Then it's settled. We'll see you there," May said as they rose to leave. "Now, I have to go let Zoe know about the raise." She hide a grin as Li started to fume.
"May," Li started. "Do you like that desk?"
"Yes. . ."
"Then you will drop the whole raise thing, unless you want to see it implode with flames," Li warned her best friend.
"I'll see you tonight," May said as she hurried everyone out of her office.
"Later," Li waved as she led the way to her car.
When they got home, Li went to go change into normal clothes, because she had only dressed in her work clothes so that May wouldn't be able to find anything wrong with her appearance.
She stalked back down to the kitchen, where Jack was sitting while the other couple took a walk through Li's gardens.
Jack watched with amusement as Li slammed around her kitchen, washing the dishes from that morning and making a pot of tea, all the while muttering about her boss. When the tea was done, she banged two cups down on the table, along with the pot. She threw herself into the chair next to Jack and started to pour out her tea.
"Love, am I correct when I guess that you aren't too happy with May and Heero?" Jack asked as he poured his own tea.
"I have been after that raise for 3 years," Li informed him. "And whenever it comes time to dish it out, they always find someone else who they feel is more qualified." She took a sip of her tea and promptly spit it back out, having burned her tongue on it.
"Now that was rather foolish, wasn't it?" Jack asked as he handed her a napkin to wipe her chin with. In return, he got a look almost as scalding as the tea. "Well, I was only trying to lighten the mood," Jack said. "Let me see it."
"See what?" Li asked.
"The wounded limb." Jack had to stifle a laugh as Li glared at him and stuck out her tongue, looking for all the world like a three year old that was being teased by her older brother.
"I think that you'll live," Jack chuckled as his inspection of the wound came to an end.
"I'm thrilled," Li replied sarcastically. "I'll keep that in mind next time I burn my tongue."
"You can't die from a burnt tongue," Jack protested. "Well, you can if it swells up to the size of a pickle and you can't eat or drink or breathe. THEN you can die," he added thoughtfully.
"Right. . ." Li trailed off. She had decided that this man was definitely insane, with good reason, too. "So, what are you going to wear tonight?"
"I have to wear something special?" Jack asked, a look of confusion in his eyes.
"Well, we're going out to Prescott Park. And don't you want to be able to pick up girls?" Li said as if it were obvious.
"No." Jack shook his head. "Why would I want to do that?"
"Because you are a guy. Guys normally like to pick up girls," Li explained.
"But I don't want to pick up girls. I like you and you've got to be one of the prettiest girls there," Jack protested, not realizing what he was saying.
"Thank you!" Li exclaimed, giving Jack a hug. "That is so sweet. I'm glad that you like me."
""That was a rather productive slip of tongue, aye, Jack?" Will laughed from the door.
Li quickly let go of Jack and resumed drinking her tea. "Do you two lovebirds want some tea?" she asked, looking at them. "The cups are in the second cupboard." She pointed to the cabinet and took another sip of tea.
"When we are done," Elizabeth started. "Li and I need to go pick out clothes for tonight."
"Why are we picking out my clothes?" Li asked warily.
"Because it's a surprise," Elizabeth grinned with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
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Yet another long chapter on my part. I hope that you liked it and I want to thank all of my reviewers for their constructive criticism. And to Bowie's Leper Messiah: I'm glad that you didn't think that I came off haughty. I try to be as nice as possible. . . However that plan is easily thwarted when people get on my nerves. : )
Well, read & review!
~*~Lady Lirimaer Malfoy~*~