Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High.
Read on, oh faithful ones...
...
Chapter Nineteen
...
Layla organised the first pile of "A" papers into alphabetical order, and then by date. It was time consuming, but it would make it easier to locate documents and file new ones later. As she went through the papers, she couldn't help but see the information on them. AAA Contractors had a lot of business through the council, some papers requesting permission to build new buildings, while others were for the inclusion or expansion of Secret Sanctums in houses.
Double taking, Layla read the document properly. The property owner wasn't named, but the super's alter ego name and address was listed. Layla recognised the names and address easily - the house belonged to the Stronghold's. Apparently, they'd expanded their Secret Sanctum just in time for Christmas. She vaguely remembered Will saying something about getting a new plasma TV for his Xbox. Well, now knew why she'd never seen the TV in his room.
Layla sorted through the pile at a faster pace, intent on finding what else this company had done. She was surprised to find that most of that pile were for the contractors. There were papers dating back more than three years. Layla was shocked that The Monster hadn't been locked up before this. If a super villain had access to this sort of information, then they'd know the addresses for every superhero in town! And now she had access to this information...
A knock at the door startled Layla and she looked over to see Ms. Peace there. Hurrying to think of something else - her mother's desire to build a house closer to the veterinary practice across town - Layla opened the door with a brief smile.
"Ready for your break, Layla?"
She nodded, grabbing her water bottle and sandwich from her bag.
"You'll have to set an alarm starting next week," Ms. Peace said, grinning briefly. "I'm only meant to be working until 6pm, so you'll have the place to yourself for two hours. I trust that you won't slack off?"
"Oh, I definitely won't do that," Layla promised.
"I'm glad. But then, we'll be able to see that the next day if the photocopying's not done," she said with another grin. "Now, that reminds me. You shouldn't get any photocopying requests next Thursday because we have a staff outing on the Friday. To help build trust and teamwork, or something ridiculous like that. You won't need to attend, so you get the afternoon off," she said, sounding envious. "Just remember to put your timesheet in on Thursday, or you'll have to come in on your day off."
Layla nodded, making a mental note to write it in her diary. She was sure she'd forget otherwise.
They finished the rest of their break in a comfortable silence, and after thanking Ms. Peace for keeping her company, Layla hurried back to The Monster.
When she was certain that Ms. Peace wasn't in sight or trying to pick at her thoughts, Layla grabbed her phone and took pictures of a few documents. She put it away within minutes, worried that she'd been seen. If she was caught taking or with those photos, she could lose her job. The files had personal information and were under strict privacy laws, which had been detailed clearly in the contract she'd had to sign before starting the job.
Waiting a few moments to ensure she hadn't been seen, Layla started to sort through the papers once more.
...
Warren greeted Layla with a preoccupied noise, his gaze intent on the food cooking in front of him. Kim had called in sick, and since the man was a workaholic, there was little to do but accept that he really was sick, and get someone who could cook good enough to replace him for the night. That role had fallen to Warren, who had walked into the kitchen at the wrong time. Mrs. Woo had set on him immediately, hurriedly giving him three orders in a rushed set of syllables. Warren had barely managed to tie his hair back and wash his hands.
He started slightly when he felt two hands on his back, relaxing briefly when he realised that Layla was simply tying his apron strings for him.
"I'll be out the back. Breathe a bit, you're looking hot under the collar there," she said with a concerned smile, leaving before he could answer.
Ten minutes later, when Mrs. Woo realised that Layla was there, she sent Warren on his break, telling him to treat his lady friend with more words than the noises he'd made for most of the night. Warren had decided that he was too tired to argue, and simply took the offered bowl of rice out to the back, Mrs. Woo taking charge of his station immediately.
"Hey, hippie," he said, his fatigue showing in every syllable and step.
"Hey. Here, sit down," she said, patting the bench next to her. "Have you had anything to drink?" she asked, rummaging in her bag to get her bottle out. "It's clean; I washed the lid when I replaced the water earlier."
Warren took the bottle and drank gratefully, not realising just how thirsty he was.
"Better?" she murmured, smiling briefly.
"Better. Thanks, hippie," he said. "Busy night?" Warren asked, hoping that she would talk and keep him awake while he ate.
Layla seemed to understand his need and began talking. "I've finished sorting and refiling all of the A's, and I'm halfway through B now. It's fairly monotonous, and might take a while to finish, but I've found something interesting, so I don't mind so much. What I found could be very useful for the future."
"What did you find?" Warren asked, frowning.
She grinned brightly, pulling her phone out of her bag and displaying the pictures. Offering the phone to him silently, Layla took his bowl and chopsticks so he could look at the information. She snuck a bite of rice in before he noticed.
It took Warren a moment to comprehend what he was looking at, but when he did, his eyes widened and he looked at her. "That's really the home address of the Human Spider?" he asked, his voice low.
"His Secret Sanctum, actually. Which is the same as his home address... It might be a good idea for easy access, but it's really ridiculous to have them at the same place, don't you think? I mean, if I was going to have one, I'd have it completely separate, that way if anyone ever found me at either my house or sanctum, they couldn't trace it back to the other place. Plus, it'd help keep the whole secret identity thing in place, and it'd be easier to separate my work and home lives," Layla said, grinning.
"What if there's an emergency and you can't get to your sanctum?" Warren asked, taking his bowl back before she ate the rest of his dinner.
"Keep a spare outfit at home for emergencies," she replied, shrugging. "It probably wouldn't be that hard to do, but it might be expensive. It really depends on where the sanctum is and where I'm living."
"So no penthouse suite then?"
"Funny, Warren," she drawled, rolling her eyes.
"I thought so," he said, grinning. "Are you okay to wait a bit longer? The restaurant's almost empty, so it should just be cleaning unless Mrs. Woo allows someone to come in in the next fifteen minutes," Warren said, seeing the clock above the door.
"I'll be fine," Layla said, kissing him quickly and nudging him towards the kitchen.
Warren headed to the door before he did something like lock the door and kiss her senseless.
...
"Hey, Warren? Time to wake up; we're here now," Layla said in his ear, helping his weary body stand, and guiding him down the bus aisle.
She ignored the driver's look of impatience as she helped Warren get off carefully.
"Thank you! Jerk," she added in a mutter as the bus sped off.
Warren knew that Layla was using her plants to help him stay upright and walking, but he was somewhere between awake and asleep, and couldn't seem to shake himself out of it to walk on his own. He felt himself being lifted into the air, and moments later, felt a mattress beneath his body. Warren fell asleep without so much as a thought for his shoes or clothes.
By the side of her Great Aunt's house, Layla call Warren's mother.
"I'm worried to send him home; I just know he'll fall asleep on the bus and you'd probably have to go pick him up from the depot," Layla said.
"You're not doing this to spend time with him, are you? Warren's grounded for a reason, Layla, and while I'm happy that you two are dating now, it doesn't mean that you can do this to try and deceive me," Ms. Peace replied.
Feeling a pricking sensation in her head, Layla let her manipulate her emotions. She told the absolute truth: how tired Warren was on the bus, how she'd used her powers to help get him off the bus and down the street, how he was too tired to even talk to her after his shift at The Paper Lantern. There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone, and the prickling sensation left Layla's mind a moment later, the need to tell the truth fading.
"Fine. But you call me if anything happens. I'll come and pick him up, no questions asked, all right?"
"All right. Thank you, Ms. Peace. I'll see you tomorrow at work. Good night," Layla said.
Warren's mother returned the sentiment, and they hung up from the call. Heading to the front door, Layla unlocked the deadbolt and handle, using a small vine to unlatch the chain. She stepped inside, locking it all again behind her.
Greta was nowhere to be seen, but she was grateful for that. Since she'd stolen her mother's jewellery, her Great Aunt had taken to wearing her flower brooch at all times, even at night, and Layla had to refrain from tying her up with her sharpest vine just to get it back.
Going upstairs to her bedroom, Layla could hear her Great Aunt snoring from down the hall. It wasn't a fake snore, but a proper and deep one, but she didn't bother looking into her room. She knew it would still be alarmed like last time, and continued to her own room.
Warren was asleep on her bed, and Layla couldn't help but smile. Her smile faded when she saw just how exhausted he was, even in sleep. Layla took his shoes off, and then used a few soft plants to lift him off the bed gently, removing Warren's pants and shirt carefully.
She didn't want him to overheat in the night, she reasoned with herself, even as her gaze lingered on his body.
Getting changed into her own pyjamas, Layla moved to lie beside him, the sheet wrapped around her body. Still asleep, Warren rolled over and wrapped an arm around her body.
With a brief thought, a vine slithered down from Layla's arm, across the floor and to the door. It closed and locked the door, and she turned in Warren's arms, falling asleep as the vine disappeared into the floor.
...
"Hey dude, I forgot to ask you before; since you won the bet for Save the Citizen, what dare did you want me to do?" Zach asked, frowning at Ethan over lunch.
"Why would you ask about that?" Warren asked, shaking his head.
"Hey, I don't want to be remembered as the guy who didn't pay up for a bet!"
"Believe me, glow stick, you definitely won't be remembered for that," he said with a smirk, looking at Zach's bright green clothes.
"Well, what's your dare? You want me to streak down the corridor? I reckon I could keep up a glow bright enough so no one sees me," Zach mused.
"No, nothing like that," Ethan said, his cheeks darkening. "I ... I was going to dare you to ..." he began, his stammering surprising the other three at the table.
Ethan might have been shy, but he wasn't one to stammer over his words. In fact, he usually used too many words, and it was odd to see him at a loss.
"Come on, man, what is it already?" Zach asked, frowning.
Ethan looked away from him. He saw that Donny was looking directly at him and blanched slightly. Without another word he stood up, his chair scraping loudly. Ignoring the looks he received at the noise, Ethan left quickly, his bag clutched to his chest.
"What the hell was that about?" Zach asked in confusion, looking to Warren and Layla with a frown.
"No idea; I'm not a mind reader," Warren replied, shrugging.
"Donny might know though. Do you want me to ask him, or are you just going to go look for Ethan?" Layla asked pointedly, reminding Zach that his best friend had just run out of the cafeteria.
"Oh, right. See you later," he said, hurrying out.
"You have any idea what Ethan was on about, hippie?" Warren asked, glancing to her.
"Nothing substantial. We'll find out eventually, I'm sure," she said with a brief smile.
"If not, then I'm fairly sure we can threaten Donny to tell us."
"Why can't we just ask Ethan? Why bother going to a secondary source when the main source is available? Especially when the secondary source doesn't seem to like it when I threaten him," Layla said, a smirk on her face as she waved at Donny.
Donny hurried to look away from her, scowling.
"That was cruel," Warren said, unable to stop his chuckle.
Beneath the table, he squeezed her hand gently, and then they returned to their lunches quietly.
Zach found Ethan within a few minutes of searching. He'd gone to a bathroom, and was in his melted form, a mess of orange and brown on the floor.
"Hey dude, you okay?" Zach asked, moving to sit beside him on the floor. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. I probably should've asked you in private, huh? I tend not to think a lot, y'know, and it's stupid, and I know that, so I'm trying to be better... I'm noticing a lot more things, and I reckon I could have seen what was happening with Magenta and Will if I'd actually paid more attention, so I should've done the same with you. I should've seen that asking you about the dare was a stupid thing to do, especially in the cafeteria. Forgive me?"
The puddle beside him bubbled slightly, and in a moment, Ethan was reformed and sitting beside Zach.
"Of course. It was stupid, to get emotional like the way I did. I usually have better control than that," Ethan muttered.
"So, what's up? Is the dare really that embarrassing?" he asked with a slight grin.
Ethan sighed heavily, looking down at his shoes, his cheeks burning.
"I dare you to kiss me... Just let me explain before you say anything," he added, still not looking up. "Everyone else has been kissed and the emotion has changed their powers in some way. I'm the only one who hasn't, and I want my powers to grow. It's not a relationship or anything, because I know you like girls," he said, purposely not referring to himself, "but I just didn't want to ask in front of everyone."
Zach was silent for a moment, but Ethan seemed relieved that he hadn't bolted at his words.
"I don't know, man, a first kiss is pretty important. You sure you want it to be with me?" Zach asked, scratching his head.
Ethan looked at him now, surprised, but he nodded in response.
"All right. But we're not going to do it right now, are we? 'Cause the bathroom floor is one of the most unromantic places ever," Zach said, grinning.
"Okay. When do you want to do it then?"
"It's your dare, you can decide."
The bell rang loudly and they got off the floor, leaving the bathroom to head to class.
"You ... you won't tell anyone, will you?" Ethan asked, nervous.
"That you're my best friend and I'm doing you a favour that will earn me... oh, I don't know, a lifetime of servitude? Nah, why would I do that?" Zach asked, grinning broadly.
"Yeah, right, glow stick," Ethan muttered, but he couldn't help grinning in return.
...
Pacing around his room nervously, Ethan resisted the temptation to melt down and hide in a dark corner. He'd asked Zach to kiss him this morning before they began their study session with Warren and Layla for the weekend. His parents had gone out for the day, making him promise to call if there was an emergency.
The doorbell rang loudly, and he rushed out of his room. As he reached the bottom step, Ethan realised that he'd probably look stupid if he was standing at the door, heaving for breath, and forced himself to slow down. He took smaller steps, telling himself that his hands were only sweaty because of everything other than the fact that he was going to be kissed today. The doorbell rang again, loudly and continuously. It seemed like Zach was getting impatient.
"Come on, man, I'm about to drop lunch!" Zach called.
Frowning, Ethan hurried to open the door to see Zach standing there with a large casserole dish.
"Mum insisted I bring something. What she didn't mention was that it was going to weigh the same as our car," Zach groaned, stepping inside. "Is it okay if I put this in the kitchen?"
"Y-yeah, go right ahead," Ethan said, still stunned.
"It's vegetable stew, I think. I told Mum's that Lay's a vegetarian. I think she added a whole bag of carrots and potatoes in the damn thing," Zach muttered, returning back to the hallway, wiping his hands on his shirt. "You going to close the door?" he asked, grinning.
Ethan hurried to close the door, but he couldn't seem to move from where he was standing. Zach frowned at him briefly before leading him into the lounge room by the shoulder, sitting him down.
"Freaking out about the kiss?" he asked, his frown turning into a quick grin. "I worried about it too, y'know, but I figure that it'll be good. Hey, can you tell me if I'm a good kisser or not? I was always too afraid to ask Magenta, 'cause, well, y'know, she's Magenta."
Ethan managed a brief nod.
"Hey, just relax. It's a kiss; I'm not going to hack you into pieces and add you to the stew," Zach said lightly, trying to make him smile.
"I know that," he replied, hating how small his voice sounded.
"You want me to start off?"
Confused as to what he meant, but not wanting to look inexperienced, Ethan nodded.
Zach smiled brightly, moving closer to him slowly so as not to frighten him more. He took Ethan's glasses off and put them on the coffee table.
"Just relax. You'll like it... I hope," he added, grinning.
He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Ethan's gently. Moving his mouth slowly, Zach ran his hands along Ethan's shoulders to help him relax and encourage him to respond. No one would ever say that Zachary Brighton backed away from a bet, and as this was Ethan's first kiss, he would make sure that it would be a damn good one.
Ethan responded hesitantly, his eyes scrunched up tightly at first. As Zach continued his reassuring strokes along his shoulders, he relaxed, trying to enjoy the kiss. Zach wanted to tell him if he was a good kisser, so he had to pay attention to that too.
Pulling away when he saw an odd glow filling the room behind his closed eyes, Zach grinned guiltily when he realised that he'd powered up and was emitting a soft glow. He licked his lips quickly, but found that he didn't want to move away from Ethan just yet.
"That... That was amazing," Ethan said, his cheeks and eyes bright.
Zach grinned, and the glow he was emitting brightened. He hurried to dull it when Ethan winced in pain, but couldn't stop grinning. He liked kissing Ethan, even more than Magenta, he realised a moment later, the thought surprising him.
"I told you we'd find out what the dare was sooner or later," Layla said, smirking at Warren.
Going red, Zach hurried to stand up quickly when he saw Layla and Warren standing in the doorway. "Hey guys, we were just ... well, it was a dare, and I just ... I think I've got to go," he said, running out of the house before anyone could react.
"Sorry. We did knock," Layla said, looking slightly guilty.
Ethan tried not to let them see just how crushed he was at Zach's sudden departure. "It's okay. I probably should've locked the door. Could you imagine if my parents came home to see that?" he asked with a hollow laugh. "Um... I'm just going to get a drink. Be back soon," he mumbled, hurrying to the kitchen.
"We should have left them to it," Warren muttered.
"Mmm... Did you see Zach controlling his power like that? I bet he's never changed the amount of light he emits before," Layla murmured, looking out to the front door.
In the kitchen, Ethan had melted the moment his foot came into contact with the tiled floor. He'd been emotional in this state before, but never sad. He usually melted in fear or nerves, and the fact that this time he was distraught seemed to be effecting his powers. The puddle usually became a swirl of the colours of his clothes, but this time it was as clear as water. Ethan didn't know how he knew that, he just simply knew. But it didn't matter. He'd probably just ruined his friendship with Zach. Why else would he have run out of the house like that?
After a few minutes, Layla walked down to the kitchen quietly. She couldn't hear anything, and opened the door. A large pool of water was on the floor, and it took her a moment to realise that it was actually Ethan. She had to hold herself back from commenting on his new look, and dampened her curiosity towards it. Was it a result of Zach's kiss, or Zach leaving? Or a combination of both?
"I'm going to go find Zach, okay? Warren will be here if you want to talk to him," she told him, her voice soft and kind.
He didn't reply, but he shifted behind the counter to continue crying without an audience.
Leaving the kitchen, Layla went to Warren, frowning slightly. "He's in his melted form, and looks like a puddle of water," she said, and he could tell that she was resisting her own curiosity to know why Ethan was suddenly like that. "Will you stay here with him, Warren? I'm worried about both of them."
He nodded in return, glancing to the open front door. "Where do you think the glow stick's gone? Not many places to hide around here, are there?"
"There's an old paddock a few streets over, he might have gone there if he didn't want to be noticed," Layla said. "I'll text you when I've found him, okay?"
Warren nodded, and when Layla had disappeared from sight, he headed towards the kitchen. While he didn't have his mother's gift to recognise and manipulate emotions, Warren figured he'd learned enough from her over the years to be able to coax Ethan back into his human form. Maybe from there, he'd even be able to convince him to go find Layla and Zach.
Layla had been right about where Zach had gone, and found him sitting in the long grass. As the property didn't belong to anyone, no one had maintained it, and the grass was the same shade as Zach's hair, and up to her waist. After sending a quick text to Warren, she made her way through the grass to where Zach was sitting. A small burst of power had the grass surrounding them turning to a fresh green colour, and she sat beside him.
"Are you all right, Zach?"
He sighed and shook his head briefly, resting his chin on his knees.
"Want to talk about it?"
Again, he shook his head. She put an arm around his shoulders, and they sat there until Warren arrived later to tell them that his mum had come to pick them up.
...
The next day, Layla answered an incessant knocking at the front door to find Zach standing there. He looked paler than usual, as if he'd spent the night tossing and turning rather than sleeping.
"I need to ask a favour," Zach pleaded, his tone far more desperate than she'd heard before.
"Why don't you come in? My Great Aunt's over at Mrs. Olgestein's house. Something about a divorce party," Layla said, shaking her head briefly.
Nodding as if he hadn't heard more than her offer to come inside, Zach walked in, his hands tapping against his legs nervously.
"What's the favour?" she asked, realising that small talk was out of the question.
"I need to kiss you."
Her eyes widened slightly, and Zach hurried to explain.
"You know how I kissed Ethan yesterday? Well, I liked it. I mean, liked it-liked it. I liked kissing him more than I did kissing Magenta, and I thought it was weird because I've always thought about girls, and then I kiss him, and it's like my whole world was just one of those snow globes with the pieces flying everywhere. I just want to kiss you to see what I feel, to see if it's all girls, or if it's just Ethan. I don't know, really, I just ..."
His words were cut off by Layla kissing him. She pulled away after a brief response from Zach. He touched his lips with a frown, his brows burrowing as he thought intently.
"Okay, now are you going to stand here all day, or are you going to go see Ethan?" Layla asked, grinning.
Zach thanked her and left her house quickly.
"You didn't think to ask me before kissing him?" Warren muttered, coming out of the kitchen to look at her.
"I would have, but you would have kissed him just to get him to shut up."
"Doubt it. But you know, all of that continuous talking reminds me of someone else," he muttered, looking at her pointedly. "You'd better clean your mouth before you kiss me," Warren added with a frown.
"You're not even going to ask if he was a better kisser than you?" Layla taunted, grinning.
"No, because the moment you've finished cleaning your mouth, I'm going to kiss you until you forget that you even saw the glow stick," Warren growled. He led her upstairs to the bathroom. "Hurry up, hippie."
Layla grinned, but still went inside, rinsing her mouth and brushing her teeth just for good measure. The moment she opened the door, Warren pulled Layla flush against his body and kissed her. She gasped in surprise at the sudden action, but her lips curved into a smile, and she kissed him back eagerly.
...
Ethan's parents were out the back arguing amiably over the way a barbecue should be cooked, and as he was in his room, Ethan was the only one who heard the doorbell. He didn't want to answer, didn't want to leave his room, and had no desire to be sociable with his parents' friends. Even if they were board members at the University of Maxville.
The doorbell rang again, and he groaned in annoyance when he realised that he was going to have to leave his room after all. Putting his glasses on, Ethan made his way downstairs, hoping his eyes weren't too puffy from crying. He'd cried in his melted form to help lessen the evidence, but his mother must have seen something, because she'd promptly sent him upstairs with a headache tablet and a large glass of water.
Ethan tried to smile - dear god, these people were impatient, he thought as the bell rang yet again - and opened the door. His half-smile faltered and he paled when he saw Zach there.
"Zach? What are you... ?" Ethan began to ask, but his words were cut off when Zach stepped forward and kissed him.
His arms wrapped around Zach seemingly of their own accord as Ethan responded to Zach's eager kiss.
"Ethan? I hope you're going to invite Zach over for lunch," his mother said, a grin tugging at her lips as she looked at them.
Pulling away quickly, both went bright red. (Zach was actually emitting a reddish light, Ethan realised hazily.) He attempted to say something, but only managed an incoherent stammer.
"Don't look so worried, Ethan," his mother said with another grin. "Of course, I wish you'd just told me you were gay instead of letting me find out like this," she added, her grin faltering. "But honestly, you showed absolutely no interest over Magenta when you were younger, and when she broke up with Zach, it was all about Zach instead of your childhood friend. I kind of guessed."
His cheeks went red again, and Ethan studiously avoided Zach's gaze. He just grinned in response, taking Ethan's hand in his own.
"So, what's for lunch, Mrs. Damsale?" Zach asked brightly.
"Please, call me Anita," she replied pleasantly, leading them out to the backyard to wait for her guests.
...
End of the nineteenth chapter.
Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it!
