Suitably Ill – Chapter Two: When Tomorrow Hits

Carver thanked God that the alert had gone out earlier since Lor was all over the highway. He had never seen anyone change lanes as many times as Lor and every time it was unintentional. Several times he tried to tell her that she needed better control of the van but he was always drowned out by the sound of the van forcing itself to meet Lor's demand. The van was pushing it at 55 miles per hour but Lor punched it to 75 miles per hour without a care. She seemed oblivious to what amounted to sounds of a vehicle ready to die or commit suicide. Carver on the other hand was all too aware of the sounds and he found himself alternating between holding his hands in prayer and holding his seat with an iron grip.

"Hey, Carver! Do you think this house will be good enough! I mean do you think it will be big enough for all four of us to have our own space and everything!" Lor hollered.

"What! I didn't hear what you said! It's hard to hear over this large mobile death machine!" Carver called back.

"Yeah! That's what I think too! Not to mention that Tino and Tish really will only need one room most of the time, you know what I mean!"

"What!"

"Exactly! Those two never know when to quit! I gotta tell ya, I never thought Tish would be so enthusiastic about it! I always thought she would be one to wait till marriage, but with her and Tino they're like rabbits!"

"Would you stop talking! I can't hear one word of what you're saying!"

"What!"

"Stop talking!"

"What!"

"I said stop talking, Lor!"

"I can't hear you! Just save it till later okay!"

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"That was wonderful sex. I think I'm paralyzed," Tish said recovering.

"That makes me happy but now I'm real tired," Tino responded.

"You were working hard. Honestly, I think I'm gonna be walking funny the rest of the day."

Tino laughed a little. "Hey, I was just keeping up."

"Well anyway, I'm gonna get dressed and head to the bookstore. Do you need me to pick up anything for you?"

"Nah, I'm good. I just wanna sleep right now."

Tish didn't bother answering she just went on her way throwing her clothes back on. She combed her hair and wiped away the sweat still on her brow. She turned back to Tino, waved to him, and was off.

"And there she goes," Tino said aloud for no reason.

Tino settled into the bed and very quickly fell asleep. The darkness of closed eyes soon gave way to a vision of grand towers in front of Tino.

"This is… Eblan. Yeah, that's where I am," Tino thought to himself despite the setting having no resemblance to Eblan.

Almost as if guided by some force Tino walked to the central tower. He gazed up at it and felt compelled to climb the structure. Taking a good hold Tino began to climb with the help of the central tower's jagged design. Part way up he spotted a girl in a dress but she quickly withdrew into the tower before Tino could figure out who she was. Now with an actual goal in mind Tino pushed himself harder to make it to where he had just seen the girl. Rock after rock he got closer till a few cuts and scrapes later he was at the small plateau where the girl had been. Tino stood up and brushed himself off.

"I'm glad you made it this far, Tino. I would have been disappointed had you not," a familiar voice said.

Tino looked up to see Tish in front of him.

"Oh hey Tish. It's good to see you. Hey, isn't it hard to climb in that dress?"

"No. It works fine. I've made it this far haven't I? And I made it here faster than you. Would you like my help in climbing the rest of the way?"

"Yeah. It'll probably be easier for us to work as a team."

"I guess. Maybe for you but probably not for me. No matter though, let's go."

The two continued on in the climb. The tower was much taller than Tino had realized. It seemed to go on forever. But for as tall as the tower was Tino never found himself growing tired from climbing. Eventually Tish and Tino reached the top of the tower and looked out across the scenery below. Tino looked down and he suddenly feared falling off the tower. He froze in place and didn't move a muscle.

"You know, I could jump if I wanted to. It wouldn't be a problem. I could do it without any trouble. I'm not gonna… but I could," Tish said.

She looked around a bit more, out towards the other towers, towards the sky, and then down to the ground below.

"Tino, do me a favor. Hold on to this ring of mine. I need you to keep it safe for me, okay? It's very important that you don't lose this ring. That ring is… nevermind. Just hold it for me."

She handed the ring to Tino. He went to speak but before he could get a single word out Tish dropped down to the ledges below and climbed down with uncanny speed before disappearing altogether.

Tino shook for a moment. "Now how do I get down? I was counting on her to show me how. Hmm, maybe if I just go slowly."

Tino started his descent very carefully. After only a little ways he stopped and looked at the ring Tish had given him. It was silver and it had an inscription on it.

Tino began to read the inscription out loud to himself, "To the one I love, remember that-"

Suddenly the rock supporting Tino's feet crumbled and he fell off the tower. He was strangely calm as he plummeted to the ground.

"Tino!" a voice suddenly called.

Tino looked around but saw no one.

"Get up, Tino!" the voice called again.

Still Tino saw no one.

Then suddenly something hit Tino in the head and he opened his eyes to see Lor standing over him.

"Mmmm, that was weird... did you just hit me?" Tino asked.

"Yeah, you weren't waking up when I called to you," Lor answered.

"You could have just shaken me, you know."

"I could have but that's not nearly as much fun."

Tino rolled his eyes and got himself out of bed.

Lor's eyes went wide and she turned red as a tomato.

"How... disproportionate. I- wow..." Lor thought.

Somehow Tino remained oblivious to the situation, unaware that he was walking around naked in front of Lor.

"No wonder Tish is always goin at it with him... Snap out of it, Lor! What am I thinking?"

Lor cleared her throat to get Tino's attention.

"Ummm, Tino, you know that..."

Tino looked at her for a second and then the situation dawned on him. He let out the most squeaky of screams ever in his life and dived behind a closet door to get dressed. However the 'damage' had already been done, the image was burned in Lor's mind.

"I-I-I-I forgot, s-s-sorry," Tino stammered.

Quickly, Tino got dressed and gathered up what was left of his dignity.

"Hmmm, I wonder what time it is," he thought.

Tino grabbed the clock from the small table near the bed.

"I was asleep for an hour. Hey, is Tish here?" he asked.

"No, I haven't seen her around," Lor replied.

"I guess she isn't back from the bookstore then. She's certainly taking a long time. By the way where's Carver?"

"Last I saw him he was outside kissing the ground babbling something about how great life is."

"Hmm, a four hour drive with you at the wheel, that sounds about right."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Do you guys need a hand unpacking or anything?" Tino asked.

"Yeah, we could actually. Carver has a ton of luggage thanks to that shoe collection of his. Although he'll probably want to handle those bags himself," Lor said.

The two went out to unpack and sure enough Lor was right as Carver kept close attention to his beloved shoes and shooed the other two away from them. Tino groaned a bit when he saw how much Lor and Carver had combined it looked to be triple what he and Tish had brought. Every bag seemed heavier than the last. Fortunately Tino had rested enough so it wasn't too much of a problem. After a long, time-consuming process Lor and Carver's things were unpacked and mostly put away. It had now been a little past two and a half hours since Tish had gone to the bookstore and Tino was starting to get slightly worried about her.

"How long does it take to go to a bookstore? I mean it's not that far away. It's only like a twenty minute walk from here."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, T. This is Tish after all. A bookstore to her is like a playground," Carver said.

"Yeah, I'm sure she is probably sitting in the store reading a book and drinking some coffee," Lor added.

"You two are probably right. I worry about her too much I think."

"It's only natural. You really care for her and that's a good thing," Carver said.

Tino nodded a little, but he still couldn't shake his concerns despite his friends' words.

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Over at the bookstore Tish sat in a chair drinking coffee and reading a book. She was a real college student now. Tish was engrossed in one of the many textbooks she had purchased. The nerd in Tish had burst forth and she was unwilling to wait the twenty minutes to get back home to start reading. She had started on her philosophy textbook examining various works of some of the greatest philosophers throughout time. For almost anyone else it was nothing more than a pile of wordy, boring old men beating their chests on how they had figured out human nature or the meaning of life. However, for Tish this was as riveting as the most action packed movie.

"Ahhh, Nietzsche, you crazy old man. You never cease to amaze me with your insight and perspective," Tish murmured aloud.

Suddenly a sharp pain shot through Tish's head and she almost dropped her coffee. Tish put her hand to her head but there were no more sharp pains, instead she felt a throbbing pain reverberating throughout her skull. She put her coffee down and held her head in both her hands. As she looked around the room seemed to be spinning and then fading out of focus and then back again. It all made Tish a little sick to her stomach and Tish feared either throwing up or collapsing in the middle of the bookstore. However, as quick as the pains had started they stopped and Tish felt fine again.

"What in the world was that? I guess maybe that's a sign that I've been here for too long. I guess I'll head home now."

Tish got up and slowly walked out worried that she would be over come with those sensations again before she made it home.

End of Chapter Two

Now this is surprising, an update within a week. I can't remember the last time I did this. I guess this is what happens when I'm in my element. I can't imagine this will happen too often though.This chapter was uploaded three different times to fix things here or there. Most notably I originally had forgotten that when Lor woke Tino up he would be naked. So I wrote that little piece in and now everything is fine. And if anyone thinks this story comes off focusing too much on sex and/or sexual related dialogue I apologize it's not supposed to.Oh yeah there's a Weekenders C-2 thing now so go to it and support Weekenders fics. Read, review, you know the usual gimmick. Honestly, who doesn't want people reading and reviewing?