Thanks to Snorts!
-//-Chapter 9--\\-
Filly and Autumn were sitting at the spotless kitchen table, playing snap, when Mr. and Mrs. Lanigan knocked on the door sharply. Manager and guitarist alike looked at each other, slowly putting the cards on the table, probably to face a fate of being covered with rock magazines, with spilt beer, left-over pizza bits stuck on it, and if they were lucky Spot or Skittery might wake up with one of them stuck to their head.

Both girls looked at each other and rose from the table in mirror images. Filly looked at the door then Autumn before casually saying, "well you're the manager... the leader, and everyone knows the leader goes first."

Autumn coughed as Blaze's parents knocked again. She looked at Filly is indignation, "Well you're the guitarist, and everyone knows the guitarist is the butler!" Autumn hissed and pushed Filly towards the door.

Filly glared at Autumn and her butler remark. Creeping towards the door, Filly took a sharp left and ran up the stairs, only to almost be knocked down as a shirtless Bumlets stumbled quickly down the stairs. Autumn dived for the door on the Lanigan's 5th attempt at getting some attention.

Bumlets reached out to steady his guitarist, Autumn took a moment to take up a religious faith, and pray heartily to the gods, Filly found herself eye to chest, and she wasn't exactly disgusted by the view, and Mr. and Mrs. Lanigan were standing at the base of the stairs, looking up at Filly and that boy Mrs. Lanigan was SURE her daughter had some kind of a... a... crush on.

"Er... Thanks... Bums... I was just... er... coming up to get you! Yeah... um... remember I have to... er... take you shopping, for... a... a... SHIRT! Yes, your first shirt... well you know not your first shirt but... remember it's a fitting, for your Band Shirt." Filly turned, hoping to smuggle the incriminating evidence of the Lanigan's daughter's pastimes right out under their noses.

Smiling as she tried to slip around the Lanigan's, Bumlets pulled along by an arm, Filly smiled and said, "You know bands. You need… instruments, shirts... and... er... um... talent... yeah... not that you can buy talent because that's not where we're going... we're going to get shirts. Because we don't walk around without shirts normally, just when we are going to buy... shirts... door... there... I'm going..." Filly mumbled, cursing the fact she couldn't lie to save herself.

Filly exited the house, pulling shirtless-Bumlets along behind her, closing the door happily as she and her hostage... er... companion, started off on the short 3 blocks walk to band friend and groupie, Busy's place, like a second home to the band, and a second, second home to Spot.

Meanwhile in the house Mr. and Mrs. Lanigan where doing their best to ignore what had just happened and headed upstairs to assault... er... comfort their ailing daughter.

Autumn fell on the couch the moment she saw the Lanigans turn into Blaze's room. Dropping the back of her hand onto her forehead, Autumn sighed loudly. She had survived. Years of playing 'statues' at school finally paid off.

Autumn closed her eyes tighter against the sounds of shuffling feet and giggles. Someone was back... and she got the feeling they weren't home to practice their instruments anyway... well their MUSICAL instruments any how.

She opened one eye and waited until she saw the back of Skittery and Whiskey's heads heading up the stairs where the Lanigan's would be in their daughters' room, JUST down from Skittery's OWN room - not a good idea to let them get all the way up there. They might not be able to restrain themselves.

"Hoy! Guys! It's Saturday!" Autumn shared sitting up on the couch with a groan. She had a feeling it was going to be a long afternoon. Hell not only any afternoon but the looming conversation showed all signs of being hellish.

"Yeah we know! It's written on the ticket the police gave us!" Whiskey shared casually, as a shiver of doom crept down Autumn's spine, but she simply refused to question the ticket comment!

"Mr. and Mrs. Lanigan are upstairs, looking after poor sick Blaze. Came down with a case of the sweats if you know what I mean? Who am I kidding of course YOU do!" Autumn corrected herself tiredly.

Skittery and Whiskey's face's both fell instantly, making a somewhat irritated Autumn feel like she'd just kicked two puppies - puppies in heat, definitely, but puppies all the same. With another sigh, which seemed to quickly be becoming her mantra Autumn pointed to the door and informed, "Filly and Bumlets have gone to Busy's. Why don't you go pull up a room there? I'm sure Busy won't mind."

As she watched them bound out the door, their tongues lolling desperately out the side of there mouths, Autumn found herself still drawing the comparison of puppies. And she thought that was more then just sad. Again Autumn was left wondering if she was the only sane person in the house. And if she was so sane why was she caught up with 'Blaze of Glory?'