The Blue Werewolf
Part II: The True Hearted
C/By: Kenjaje
Edited by: raVen
Chapter 8: Werewolf Hooky
October 31: 3:30 AM: Tower Bedroom
A light drizzle pattered against the windows of the domed bedroom. The frequent rains had dropped the temperature gradually, but tonight it was at its coldest. There was very little thunder, only a murmur here and there; the sky was calm and dark as ever. Only rustles could be heard amongst the busy nature.
Lilo had not been sleeping all that well; she was constantly clawing at the realm of sleep, trying to hold on with all of her might, but between the cold and noise, she was always teetering on the edge of awareness. She would toss, and she would turn, not quite awake, not quite asleep; in a drowsy limbo between dreams and thought.
Off-and-on all night this happened, until finally she was yanked from her sleep and brought wide awake. She opened her eyes and stared at the dark ceiling. She remained motionless, thoughtless, waiting for her mind to simply drift back off into slumber. But an irritating feeling would always intercede just when she felt she was finally dreaming.
Eventually, she decided, she must need something—some food, some water, or perhaps some warm milk. That sounded perfect. She forced her legs to carry her to the elevator, quietly down the hall—where she passed her old room, and saw a wavering light underneath the door—silently down the stairs, and cautiously into the kitchen.
Of course, it just dawned on her now that the microwave, which had planned to use to warm her glass, would pierce the silence she had so articulately maintained. But, she figured, heading to the fridge with an empty cup in hand, it probably wouldn't be loud enough to wake anyone above.
With the help of a chair, she heated the milk for only a few moments, for she was aware that Jumba's "modifications" often made their utilities drastically more powerful. Eager to sleep, she was less quiet going back up to her room. Her footsteps made thumps and the boards made creeks, and for a moment she thought she alerted the man in her room when she saw the light under the door, but then remembered it had been there when she passed before, and so she went on without a worry.
When she arrived to the quiet room, she immediately noticed the new sound in her ears; a dramatic rustling and a few grunts of discomfort, coming from the lump atop the bed attached to the wall. She drank the rest of her milk more quickly and went to set the cup down on the computer desk, and—figuring he was just cold, as she had been—went over to the rustles to help quiet him down. She searched for his covers across the side, but when she found them she realized they were pulled to his neck.
She sighed, wondering what else could be the matter, and wondered if he had just dropped his pillow, or perhaps was lying on an arm full of pins and needles. She put a hand against his neck, and immediately drew it back with concern. She placed it again, but this time her knuckles rested upon his scalp; he felt hot to the touch.
"Stitch?" She said, trying to nudge him awake. He began to rustle more violently, as if he were having a nightmare. "Stitch wake up," she reached for his shoulder and side, and they also felt burning hot, he began to struggle against her, as if fighting her. "Stitch, wake up!" She yelled with urgency, shaking him fiercely.
"Ok…" Lilo huffed, dragging a bucket full iced-water behind her after the elevator reached room-level. "Let's see," she said, plucking the thermometer out of Stitch's mouth. "Ninety-nine-point-seven," She stated, reading the numbers. "You're sure you kept it under your tongue?" She asked him, feeling his forehead again.
"Eh." He replied with a bit of irritation.
"Well…drink this," she grunted, lifting up the small bucket, "it'll cool you down." Her hand quivered as the handle passed from her to him. He did as she advised, and cringed when the cold overwhelmed him in his haste. "How do you feel?"
"Little bad…not much." He replied, handing her the empty bucket.
"Do you feel sick at all; anything sore? This fever is really sudden…" She questioned, climbing up to sit next to him.
"Naga…other than bad tooka-tooka," he pointed to his head, "Stitch feel ok."
"You don't feel hot?"
"Maybe little." He yawned, his eyelids slowly sealing shut. "Stitch going back to bed, enchujae." He said over a long, tired sigh. His head slumped on his pillow and he waited for his head to stop throbbing. A few moments went by, but he didn't hear the rustle of Lilo returning to her bed, nor did he feel her presence leave. After another moment or two, his right eye lifted up to stare at her. She was looking distantly ahead. "Lilo not sleepy?" He asked.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Lilo not want to go to sleep?" She rubbed her eyes.
"I am, I'm just waiting for you to fall asleep." She explained. Stitch's eyebrow lifted.
"Gabitcha?" He asked.
"I don't know…I thought you might've wanted me to. When I was littler, my mom would wait for me to go to sleep when I was sick to make sure I was ok." She paused, "But, I guess if you don't want me to," she began to slide away, "I'll go—" Stitch's hand firmly went across hers; she looked back at him, and he shook his head.
"Naga…don't go." Stitch said with a light plea. She smiled, and returned to his side. He smiled, closing his eyes, and not three minutes later his breathing was slow and calm. The milk, by now, had worked its magic on Lilo. A moment or two after Stitch's ascent to the realm of dreams, she was right beside to him.
The morning yielded the same chill as midnight; the sun had just barely risen above the windows, and the light had just barely left the sills. Lilo's eyelids glowed red, and she was brought to the state she had been in several hours before, between asleep and awake.
Her arms, her back, her legs and her feet were all numb. Her left hand occasionally twitched with pins and needles, and her spine quivered frequently. She felt motion next to her, and a moment later, a great source of warmth. Her drowsy mind pleaded for her to move closer; as she did, it seemed to adjust itself to her advance.
For some time she was blank again, more in the realm of sleep, until she was jarred to the in-between state again. The comforting heater moved away from her. She moved with it, this time putting an arm over it to keep it still. Her arm rose and fell steadily, and every once in a while, a warm air passed over her cold cheek and nose.
She moved close again, to the source of the warm air; she shivered as the chills left the side of her neck, replaced by the heat of the air. Slowly the air brought her more and more awake; with every pass her mind was more and more aware, until she opened her eyes. At first she could not see; the light of the sun coming in through the window made her eyes ache and wince. But as the light dimmed and her eyes adjusted, she began to see what the source of the warm air really was.
The air, which roamed over the tip of her nose, around her mouth, brushing past her cheek, and across the majority of her neck, was breath. But as she became more and more aware of her surroundings, the breath bothered her less and less; what bothered her more was how close she found the source to be. Their noses touched, and their lips just barely, and she suddenly found her arm was slumped across his shoulder.
She gasped with shock as it hit her all at once, and her body flinched away. She, and the covers lost hold of the bed and fell to a thump on the carpeted floor. Her breathing was rasp; her heart thundered wildly. A rainbow of emotions from confusion to shyness fluttered about in her stomach. He—jarred awake by the noises and the absence of his blanket—stared down at her sitting on the floor with his covers draped over her left shoulder like a royal gown.
"What wrong?" He asked with concern, noting the expression of her face, the color of her cheeks, the speed of her breaths, and the glimmer on her rapidly shifting eyes. "Lilo try to wake Stitch up again? Stitch still have fever? Stitch hit Lilo?" He asked, trying to read what happened based on what was before him. Lilo swallowed dryly.
"N-n-no," she said, stifling her embarrassment, "I just got c-caught by surprise, t-that's all."
"Lilo cold?" He asked, observing her stutter. He hopped down from the bed to help her up, and wrapped his blanket over her when she was on her feet.
"Y-yeah," she said, glad for the cover-up, "a little bit. T-thanks." She began to shiver, at first naturally then dramatically to emphasize how "cold" she was. He rubbed her forearms to try and warm her up. "I'd even go for coffee to warm me up." She joked.
"Sound good!" He exclaimed, seeing an opportunity to get a mug of it himself.
"Yeah, I think we need the wake-up anyway." She said, moving to the elevator. "It's the thirty-first, and you know what that means!"
"Oh naga…shots!" Stitch said with a sarcastic horror. Lilo giggled.
"Ok then, we'll stop by the vet and get you some if you want it so badly," she joked. "We'd better wake up as quick as we can," she told him as the elevator rode them down, "we've got a ton to do today; I hope Nani got the pumpkin, and then there's the decorations, and we haven't even let the spiders loose—we gotta get going!"
From the moment the elevator hit the second floor, till the sky began to turn orange, the two of them were busily preparing for when the sun would climb down and descend to the land below the horizon. Lilo had not even noticed how late they were this year; decorations, candles, statues in the lawn, colors, food, candy, the Jack-O-Lantern, all of it seemed last-minute. And though their day seemed slow, they realized when they finally sat down for dinner, that it had gone by rather quickly, now that it was over.
Carlos Lo Bo had not even given them a glance or look; it was as though he'd forgotten what had happened the day before. His cheery, bright smile, quirky accent and enthusiasm helped tremendously with the work. He had a knack for getting the job done quickly and efficiently, despite the fact that no one really asked him to help.
"Can't help b'feel yall're late cuz-a me." He told them.
In a later part of the day, an hour or so before dinner, Stitch and Lilo were handed the pumpkin. Both decided that, to prevent what happened the prior year, Stitch would do the carving. But, when Lilo offered him the knife, Stitch came up with the idea to instead use his claws. The idea was probably better all around because the –Lantern was excellent—a skull and crossbones—and, "no one got hurt", Lilo said, "but then again, you didn't get hurt last year either", she added with a nudge from her elbow.
Their dinner was too large to fit in the kitchen, so they moved outside to watch the sky turn orange and purple. Stitch and Lilo ate hastily; their manner filled with agog which steadily grew the more the sun disappeared. But, before Nani would let them go, she told them that they needed to take a bath. After a long bout of groans and complaints, she and he were finally storming upstairs. Stitch was first, as he took longer to dry, and Lilo was second. Though, it can't be said they were too thoroughly clean…