Chapter 11

Insomnia sucks.

That's pretty much all that Ann was thinking that night. Something was nagging at the back of her mind. It was several things, actually. Ann got out of bed and began a list. Writing lists always seemed to help her to relax.

Ann's List of Things That Are Bothering the Tweedle Out of Her

Being snappish with Warren. And while he probably deserved it, I am trying to be a little… nicer to him. Being snappish is not nice.

Having to take care of Ariel and Warren. At this point, both of them are acting like total infants.

Having to take care of Ariel and Warren, and go to school, and get all of my homework done, and remember to threaten Lash into getting Warren's homework, and buttering Speed up enough to take notes for Warren. Note: Batting eyes are very effective in this case.

The mere fact that Warren Peace has been staying in my house for the past couple days, and now that he has discovered my cache of Chex Mix, seems content to stay for as long as it lasts. I mean, WARREN-FREAKING-PEACE, ladies and gentlemen! I will not go into details, but anyone with half a brain, which Warren appears to be lacking, can tell why this makes me… tense.

Ann sighed. At least she could fix one of those. Pulling her nightgown on, she padded softly downstairs and peeked into the living room. Warren was sleeping peacefully, and Ann took the moment to study his features. She admitted that it was a cliché, but when he was asleep, and his face was relaxed, he looked a lot less… fear inspiring. Unable to resist, she walked over quietly and brushed a stray lock of hair behind his ear.

"Hmm?"

She jumped slightly. Dang, he was awake!

"Oh, um, I just wanted to say I was sorry for being so bitchy this morning. I'm… a little stressed."

One of Warren's eyes popped open, and he studied her.

"How so?"

Ann sighed and sat down at the opposite end of the couch, in front of Warren's feet.

"Just the usual. Schoolwork, the like."

Warren only gave a 'humph' in response, and shut his eye again.

"Warren, um, I was thinking…"

Ann restrained as squeak as he growled softly, but he didn't nuke her, so she continued.

"If you feel up to it, maybe we could go riding tomorrow. I mean, assuming you know how to ride."

His eye opened again, and he glared at her. She smiled sheepishly.

"Of course, you know how to do everything. I'll be going now." Resisting the urge to back out kowtowing, Ann hurried back up to her room, and took a flying leap into her bed.

"You look cheerful." Remarked Wren from his position in the corner.

"I most certainly am." Ann proclaimed.

"Good morning, Warren. How do you take your eggs? Scrambled? Scrambled it is then."

Warren blinked. He had been awoken from his slumber by the smell of cooking, and morning cooking at that. Ignoring her assumption on his choice of eggs, which was actually accurate, he stumbled over to the island in the center of the kitchen, and poured himself some orange juice. After the first few sips, he felt human again, and greeted Ann.

"Morning." He grunted.

"I got your favorite orange juice." Ann pointed out, waving her spatula in the direction of the carton. "Pulp thick enough to chew."

Warren looked at it, realizing that she was correct. Wow, someone who actually remembered a brief, abstract conversation that might have involved orange juice.

"You are very odd." Warren said, and Em snickered and nodded, humming and dancing along to a tune in her head as she continued cooking.

She was interrupted by a soft, wailing sound coming from upstairs. Ann looked up and frowned.

"Oh, sounds like Baby's up. Could you go get her ready, please?"

"Um." Warren looked around, possibly for an escape route.

"Oh come on. She's like, nine months old, she doesn't care who dressed and undressed her."

With a sigh, and a shake of the head, Warren pushed aside his glass and headed upstairs. In her room, Ariel was lying in her crib, sobbing for all she was worth. When Warren picked her up, she sniffed a few more times, and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

"Okay, now what shall you wear today?" Warren said, half to himself, half to the child.

Balancing on his hip with one arm, he looked through the drawers of her dresser with the other. Inside, he found a dazzling and overwhelming display of clothes, from dresses to onesies. Considering that they were going outside, he finally settled on a pair of pink corduroy overalls, a little pink Seattle Mariner's t-shirt, plain white socks, and little white tennis shoes.

Looking dubiously at Ariel, he silently begged her to behave. With a few minutes of wiggling, and at times pure Jell-o-ness, he managed to get her into the shirt and overalls. After that, Ariel lay patiently while Warren put on her socks and shoes, tying the laces into neat bows. Surveying his handiwork, Warren felt a surge of pride. Why, he had no idea. But he felt it.

Grabbing a small hairbrush for her curls, he carried her downstairs and sat her down on the counter next to his orange juice. Ann looked over at her and smiled.

"Aw, doesn't she look adorable?" She cooed. "Doesn't Wawwen have good taste?"

'Wawwen', rolled his eyes, and started heating up a bottle of milk for her from the fridge. It really surprised him how much he put up with from Em. But she didn't mean any harm from it, and it was her nature to be friendly and occasionally silly, so he made a few concessions for her.

Meanwhile, Ann pulled the platter of scrambled eggs out from the oven, where she had been keeping them warm, and put them next to the plate of crêpes she had just finished.

"See." She said, grinning. "I can make creeps!"

"That's definitely what you're going to be having once you start breeding." Warren teased back, and Ann responded by tossing one of the thin pancakes in his general direction.

Warren looked Ann up and down as she came outside of the house. She was wearing her old cowboy hat from before, as well as an equally old and beat up dark brown, oilskin outback coat. Ann saw his looked and laughed.

"How to look like Jim Craig in one easy step." Seeing his baffled look, Ann looked at him like he had just given God the finger. "Don't tell me you've never heard of The Man From Snowy River?"

Warren shook his head, and Ann rolled her eyes as she locked the door.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have lived a deprived life? You've never seen Arabian Nights, which you have to admit is a classic,"

"Yes, Ember."

"You've never seen The Man From Snowy River, which is a total and complete classic. Next you're going to tell me you haven't seen Dr. Strangelove!"

"I've seen Dr. Strangelove!" Warren protested as they walked toward the barn, him carrying Ariel, Ann carrying a full saddlebag.

Em threw her free hand up to the sky in mock-thanks-to-the-almighty, and he reached over to swat her, making Ariel coo happily. Her sister gave her a sharp look.

"Now look at you! Turning my own sister against me."

Warren only laughed.

As they entered the stables, Warren looked around to find about a dozen stalls, six on each side. Four of them were occupied, and on each door there was a brass nameplate. Ann introduced him to each.

The first was White Wizard, who neighed happily when he saw the pyro.

The second was named Leroy Brown, and was a handsome reddish Buckskin Gelding. At about 15 hands, he was a smaller Quarter Horse then Wizard, but he was also older, and very gentle.

The final two were Arabians. The first of these was a blood bay named Sir Percival Fluffypants, also known as Fluffy. He, however, didn't seem to have any idea of his name, and was quite happy to parade himself in front of his friends, and generally make a grand show of himself. Like most Arabians, he was a smaller horse at 14.5 hands.

The horse next to him was just a little taller at 15 hands, and she was Ann's own personal pet. She had gotten her when she was a foal, and had simply named her Fog, for her beautiful Grey color.

"I imagine you'll be riding Wizard." Ann remarked.

Warren only nodded in reply as he gently rubbed Fog's nose. Meanwhile, Ann led Wizard out, and began to saddle him. Warren lightly brushed her to the side, and began to do it himself. With a smile, the Elemental turned to saddle Fog. Once they were both finished, she put a pair of saddlebags on Leroy, as well as a lead.

"What about Fluffy?" Asked Warren.

"I just exercised him this morning. Besides, he's too much of a pansy to go out in the cold."

"Hm, doesn't this sound like someone we know?"

"Shut up."

"He has a point."

"Shut up, both of you."

Ann grabbed a helmet from a hook that she thought would fit him, and offered it to Warren. After looking at it blankly for a moment, he suddenly realized that she expected him to wear it.

"Don't need it." He said simply, and she nodded sardonically.

"Oh right, I forgot. Your Mum's the one with the impervious-thing going, isn't she?"

Warren rolled his eyes.

"It's called Temporary Imperviousness. The more of a beating she, we get, the more of a…"

"Blood-frenzy?" Ann suggested off-handedly, and Warren scowled at her.

"Now why would you put it that way?"

"I've read up on it a bit." She explained. "From what I understand your body creates a sort of hyper-adrenaline. The more pain your body registers, the more of it is released into your body, making it extremely difficult to actually hurt you. An interesting side affect of this is a sort of single-mindedness when it comes to, em, defeating the opponent."

"You read too much." He answered, flicking her shoulder.

"You're weird, you know that, Em?"

"A cradleboard is not weird. The Native Americans used them for God-knows-how-long quite successfully."

"Yeah, I can understand that. But do we have to take the guitar along too?"

"Nothing like spot of music while relaxing, surrounded by nature."

They had ridden for about twenty minutes till they got to a clearing in the woods, right off the well-beaten path they had been following. Like the one where Eva was buried, the lake ran by it, bubbling softly as it ran over the smooth gray rocks. Ann took Ariel out of her cradleboard, setting her down so that she could crawl about and look at the flowers, as well has her guitar case, and the saddlebags. Out of them, she took tuna sandwiches, fruit salads, various cheeses, crackers, and for dessert, her very own brownies, which Warren was addicted to. All of this was stored in Tupperware so it wasn't squished, and insulated so that it didn't get warm.

Since Ariel wasn't hungry yet, they let her move about where she willed within their line of sight. Lying stretched out on a blanket that Em had brought, she and Warren ate quietly as they watched the little girl play.

"She seems so much older than her age." Warren said.

"Well, she is the granddaughter of a Feline Shapechanger. We tend to grow faster then other children. But Ariel is also a very smart girl, she picks things up quickly."

"I've noticed." He smiled and peered at the tuna sandwich she handed to him. "No pickle?"

"I hate pickles." Ann said, making a face. "And I refuse to inflict it on anyone else, even if they don't know its infliction."

"Mm." Warren said around a mouthful of tuna. "So, tell me about Lash. Somehow he's never struck me as your type."

"Nosy aren't we?" She replied, though with a light tone. "Besides, he isn't my type. I was friends with his sister."

"What happened?"

Ann looked down at her palms, suddenly very quiet.

"Mm, she died." She finally murmured.

Warren studied her. He didn't apologize for asking. There was really no purpose to doing that anyway.

"How did she die?" He asked.

"Oh, it's a long story… and a boring one." Em said passively. The way she said it, he could tell that she was obviously trying to hide something.

"Really, Em. What happened?"

She looked up at him sideways, her hair veiling one eye.

"We went to the same school, the one I just came from. The first day, a girl lost control of her powers and killed her."

Warren thought about what she had said, and frowned.

"I remember hearing about something like that. But didn't the other girl have the crap beaten out of her a few days later?"

Ann glanced to the side. Warren half expected her to start whistling innocently at any moment.

"Ember." He drew her name out.

"What?" She asked sharply. "I'm not sorry. She was an arrogant git and deserved to feel a small fraction of the pain she caused us… Andy and me. I even made sure that he didn't kill her, just made her incapable of moving for the next couple of years. It was far better then what she did to Willow."

There was a pause, in which Warren gave her one of his 'looks'.

"Did I say that I blamed you?"

"Um, no." Ann conceded.

Warren let it go at that. He at least knew now what the deal was with her and Lash. Deaths had a way of bringing people together… and pushing them apart. Of course, it also appeared that they had both, if not Ann at least, had outgrown their previous friendship. Warren wasn't complaining.

"Now you have to tell me something about you?"

"Oh boy." He muttered. This was turning into something resembling Truth or Dare, or maybe just Truth. Either way, he hated that game.

"Don't worry, nothing too embarrassing. I was wondering why you worked at the Paper Lantern."

The pyromani… er… pyrokinetic breathed a mental sigh of relief. That was an easy one.

"It belongs to my grandmother. My Mom's mom."

"Oh! How lovely!" Ann exclaimed. "She's Chinese?"

"Mm hm. She taught me to speak it too. My maternal grandfather is totally and completely American, and my father's family is Italian."

"Wow. Me, I'm totally and completely English." She said, taking the liberty of quoting him. "Though my Mother's family is German. With a name like 'Yost', who would have thought?"

"Really." Warren agreed, chuckling.

There was another pause. Not one of those, I-have-no-idea-what-to-say-but-I'm-going-to-try-desperatly-to-find something silences. But the kind where neither person feels the real need to say anything, and if they think of something to say, they say it. Until then, the silence remains comfortable and completely unbroken save for the sounds around them.

"I was just thinking." Ann began.

"That must've hurt."

At this point, they had also gotten used to insulting each other. In this case, this one, and variations thereof, was their way of saying, 'Do tell.'

"When is the homecoming dance?"

"Next Saturday. My mom's threatening to disinherit me if I don't go and behave like, as she says, a normal human being for once."

"Mine too."

They looked at each other, realization dawning.

"It's a plot! A plot I say!" Ann shouted laughingly.

"Probably." Warren agreed, and grinned. "It would be interesting."

"What?" Asked Ann, knowing full well what he was talking about.

"If we went to the dance together." His expression turned to a slight glare then. "But it's not going to happen."

"Why not?" Ann complained, and smiled deviously. "I'll bet you can't dance."

Warren looked at her drolly. If only she knew.

"I can dance. What about you?"

"I went to a British private school. We didn't have a gym teacher we had a dance mistress. Come on." She wheedled. "The facial expressions would be priceless."

"We could stand to the side and make fun of people." Warren added with a slight smirking smile.

"And glower at them."

"And eat cheese cubes."

They exchanged another look, and burst out laughing. All of the horses and Ariel looked over to see the two rolling on the ground, overcome with mirth, and shook their heads.

"It's settled then." Warren said, wiping a tear away. "Should I pick you up?"

"Depends, do you have a car that flies?"

"No, do you?" He retorted.

"Good point, but I think I could get my Dad to let me borrow his stealth plane… helicopter… thingy."

Warren stared at her.

"He's designing this little stealth plane thing for some superhero team. I think he'll let me borrow it. I'm not sure if he would let you go along though."

"That's fine." He replied. "I'll probably go along with Will anyway."

"A corsage isn't necessary." Ann reassured him.

Warren gave a fake sigh of relief and rolled his eyes up to the sky in a silent prayer of thanks. Ann just hit him upside the head.

When they got back, Ann peeked her head into the fridge.

"Looks like we'll have to go grocery shopping pretty soon."

"When are you're parents coming back?" Warren asked.

"Two days. We can go now. There's a Safeway not far from here." Looking over at him, she gave Warren a pathetic look. "Yes, I'm afraid we will have to emerge, and rejoin the world of the living."

"In other words boring." He grumbled, tossing his jacket over a chair, and continued. "And hectic, and annoying, and completely devoid of home baked snacks, let alone a constant supply."

"We live right next door, dearie. You can come over any time. Besides, Mom loves it when people come over. Not to mention handsome young pyros who give her daughter some semblance of a social life."

"Did she say I was handsome?" He asked, glancing in a mirror, in jest of course.

"I believe her exact words were more along the lines of, 'The hottest thing I have ever seen before in my life'. At which point my Dad began to reconsider his views on assassination."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Did you bring the list?" Warren asked Em as he set Ariel down in the front of their cart.

"Right here." She said, pulling it out of her purse.

"Ann, that's not a shopping list, that's an… essay."

"But an essay on ice cream, milk, cheese, pot pies, and other goodies."

He only rolled his eyes as she began to decorously bark directions to the dairy section.

"Hey! Warren!"

They both turned to see the five musketeers themselves coming toward them, their own cart piled high with sodas and snacks.

"Ann?" Layla looked at her with surprise, and then at Warren.

Ann smiled politely while Warren and Will greeted each other in one of the ways that only males can, and are lost to try to describe or explain. Layla and Magenta pulled her to the side.

"I'm sorry, but last time I checked you two were… off." Magenta said, sensing something truly glorious was happening.

"Oh, it's a long story. Essentially, we live next door to each other, have talked, he came to my families ranch over here, fell in the lake, got hypothermia followed by a cold, and he's been staying with me for the past few days." Ann rattled off nonchalantly.

"Really?" Layla said wonderingly.

"Really?" Mag said evilly. "And keeping you two company…"

"Um," Ann looked at the only slightly smaller girl nervously. "There's my sister."

Both of the other girls glanced at Ariel, who was blowing bubbles and jabbering to the boys happily, and back at her.

"Okay, spill." Magenta said.

"What?" Ann protested. "What are you talking about?"

"Right. You expect that you've had Warren Peace, gorgeous, pyrokinetic, nurse-maided, Warren Peace alone and I'm guessing often helpless and/or shirtless for almost a week and you haven't taken total and complete advantage of him?"

"Um, no." Ann admitted sheepishly.

Magenta threw up her hands in despair, and Em's face suddenly morphed into an evil grin a la her mother.

"It would have violated my ethics as a person taking care of a patient. Although, he is doing much better…" She trailed off, and Mag smiled back conspiratorially. Even Layla joined with a snicker.

Zach looked at them giggling and evilly-grinning.

"It's always the quiet ones." He said. When the other guys looked up at him, that is, looked up from Ariel, he pointed to the girls.

Warren's eyes narrowed and he walked over to them. All three girls looked up, way up, and smiled innocently.

"Yes?" Ann asked sweetly.

"I have come to a realization."

"What?"

"Anything more then two teenage girls together at the same time are trouble. Time to go." And he took hold of her elbow and began to drag her off. She only laughed and waved to Mag and Layla. When they were driving back, Warren continued.

"Really. Those two were perfectly well behaved until you came along, and now I turn my back for one second and you three are whispering."

"What's wrong with whispering?"

"Nothing, unless girls do it. Then you know they're talking about you."

Ann opened her mouth, closed it, thought for a moment, and shrugged.

"I can't really argue with that logic. Say, why don't we have all of them over tomorrow? We'll be going back to the normal world the day after, it would be nice to hang out with them."

"Huh." Warren looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"What?" Ann asked when she caught his stare.

"It's just, you never seemed very eager to have much to do with them before."

"I guess," Ann said, smiling softly, "They understand me a lot better then I thought."

Warren smirked.

"I'm glad my presence has had such an enlightening effect."

Warren Peace got hit a lot that day.


Okay. I'm sorry this has taken so long. Writer's block sucks. But I managed to finish the last couple of scenes quite easily. Just one more full day before our intrepid explorers head back into society. Now what could possibly happen (Re: Go wrong) in one day?