It took me a good hour to get the bath water ready. Whilst Kanda sulked in a corner, I was lugging buckets of cold water from the bath tap to a massive fireplace that was probably in the bathroom for this very purpose.
I paused from my work to wipe my forehead and examine the bathroom.
It was pretty, or it might've been if we could get rid of the cobwebs, rotting woodwork, and disgusting slime mold that looked like it might gain sentience any minute. The tiles were chipped and the grout was falling out, but I could still see that they were a pure white under the dirt. The claw-foot tub was massive, definitely big enough to fit Kanda in his current, ahem, doggy state. I'd already swept out the dirt and whatever was left was taken care of by the deluge from the tap. I was surprised the water still worked here, but I guessed that they must get their water from an underground aquifer. The curtains were moth eaten, but the material looked like it had been expensive. All together, the room was maybe ten by six feet, the biggest bathroom I'd ever set foot in.
"When was this house abandoned?" I said to Lavi who was perched on a short tabletop next to me.
"The dossier says about ten to twenty years ago," he answered, watching me as I tended the fire. With his help, I'd gotten the fire as big as I wanted it. Also with his help, I'd almost had all the hair on my arms and what was left of my eyebrows removed involuntarily. I looked back at Kanda, and my heart panged. He tried hard to hide it, but I could see that his awkward limbs were in a lot of pain.
"What's the matter, Maggie?" Lavi asked. "You worried?"
I looked down at his candle holder form, and I winced internally. I should be worried about him, too. I mean, yeah, being a dog was a pretty crappy situation, but Lavi was an inanimate object. Life is already hard enough being an Exorcist, there was no need to add to it.
I took a deep breath.
"Yeah, but I'm a worrier. It's a given. How are Bookman and Charles doing with the wood?" I asked.
I'd sent them on a mission to fetch me some fuel to feed the fire. That was more to keep them busy than anything else. Bookman needed no distractions, but Charles acted like he was going to be torn apart by dogs every time he put a foot down. He spent a lot of his time on top of chairs or in high places. I couldn't blame him. I'd watched a few of those wild dogs rip apart a poor bunny rabbit from a window.
I had no idea that rabbits could scream. I was proved horribly, horribly wrong.
"Want me to check?" Lavi asked, and I nodded.
He hopped off the table and out the door, and I watched him forlornly, suddenly feeling very alone. Bookman was supposed to be giving me a sort of plan to investigate the rest of the premises when he got back, so I was kind of anxious for him to get here. This house not only gave me the creeps, but it also made me want to clean incessantly. I couldn't stand so much mess. I was going insane from all of the crockery lying around. And the knowledge that they were all people...
I kept my mind off that subject, especially because I didn't know if this bucket was an original part of the house or a person-turned-object. And seeing as it was over a fire, it was doubly worse.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry," I whispered to the bucket as I hauled it off the fire and to the bath tub.
I dumped it quickly, realizing the bath was half full. That should be good enough. I put a finger in, and it wasn't too hot. Unless he was going to be a baby about it, Kanda was just going to have to deal with the fact his water was just a tad hot. Why did he suddenly sound like such a child...?
"Hey," I said, trying to get his attention.
He turned his eyes to me without moving his head, and I put a hand on my hip, sighing.
"So?" I asked, and he groaned.
He started to haul himself to his feet, but his right leg, the one that looked like someone had taken a peeler to it, buckled. I rushed forward out of motherly instinct (which in hindsight was a bad idea considering he was probably a good two hundred and something pounds to my one hundred and thirty), but a quick growl stopped me.
"I can do it myself," he growled, and I let him have it.
I wasn't going to mess with him. He had more teeth than I had fingers, and he could probably sit on me if he wanted. Of course, I don't know why he didn't just do that if he was so against taking a bath. I guess even he had a sense of decorum. It's awfully rude to sit on a woman.
"Well, before you get in, let me get these off of you and hang them. I'll wash them later," I said, tugging the lapel of his coat.
He shrugged and stopped, allowing me to start unbuttoning the coat. Sheesh, Komui had done a good job with the stitches. The buttons hadn't even popped off, even though they looked like they wanted to scream from the strain they were being put through.
I managed the first three before Kanda suddenly spoke.
"Why are you doing this?"
I looked at him, surprised. He isn't exactly talkative. In fact, I think this was the first time in a while I'd heard him say something that didn't have to do with my intelligence (or lack thereof), weight (overabundance of), and my ability (once again, the lack thereof). I frowned, realizing I had no idea what to say. I kept my eyes fastened on the shiny silver buttons of his coat, unable to look at his face. I couldn't read it anyway - he was a dog. Have you ever tried to figure out what a dog's thinking from their facial expression? No? Then you and I are in the same boat.
"I... I guess because I can't stand to see you in pain. A hot bath will help with... these," I said, gesturing to his lopsided proportions.
He was quiet again, and I started to pull off the jacket. Everything was going well so far, until I tried to yank off one sleeve. He growled at me suddenly and, startled, I stepped backwards and smashed my spine into the tub.
"Gently," Kanda instructed painstakingly.
I took a deep breath, trying to rearrange my thoughts and my vertebrae. He scared me more than I thought. I couldn't keep my eyes off those teeth. I began to gently remove the jacket, and I saw that his left arm was soaked in blood. I frowned, eyeing the matted blood. It was tacky, so that meant he'd been bleeding for several hours.
"How long ago did that happen?" I asked. Right now it was probably around three 'o clock or so.
"How am I supposed to know?" Kanda grumbled, unhappy and defensive.
I put up my hands in a 'don't bite off my head!' motion.
"Just... it's a little weird. Usually your wounds heal after a few hours. I... I saw that when we were in the Himalayas," I explained, and he just stared at me with dark eyes.
Growling gently, he offered his other sleeved arm. I started to tug that one off then moved on to the shirt, and this time I was more mindful of the gash on his left arm. It was pretty well stuck, though, and it took a lot of yelping, hot water, and manhandling to get it off. Why was he forever getting injured? Couldn't he stay in one piece for longer than a few days?
"It's like when I'm around you, I'm suddenly hit by every bout of bad luck a man can get. You're the opposite of a good luck charm," he complained, and I scoffed.
Now, wait just a minute. How was this suddenly because I'm around? "That's not my fault. You should be more careful," I said.
He 'tsked' as well as he could. "Are you kidding me? I spent a month in Zimbabwe and I didn't even stub my toe," Kanda rebutted.
I picked up a rag, feeling a vein in my neck throb like an over burdened hose.
"And suddenly I show up and you look like someone put a cheese grater to you?" I muttered as he awkwardly climbed into the tub.
"Tch."
"Look, I am not some sort of bad luck charm. As far as I'm concerned, you're just reckless," I said, starting to clean out his left arm.
It was completely caked, and I didn't know if water would do any good. Forget soap - we were going to need bleach, some scissors, and heavy-duty sedatives.
"Heh, I'm reckless? You're the one who climbed a cliff to get a sword that'd fallen down the side of a mountain and stabbed yourself on it, you retard," Kanda shot back, and I slammed my rag against the side of the tub.
"Out of the kindness of my heart, thank you. At least that sort of recklessness has got its purpose," I rebutted.
"Maybe if you didn't do so much out of the kindness of your heart and think once in a while, I wouldn't be getting hurt saving that overweight sorry -"
"Leave my weight out of this! Besides, if you think my helping was such a stupid thing, why did you bother saving my life?!"
Okay, so the paunch sitting on top of my stomach is screaming indignation at being ignored, but I'm not going to sit here and be insulted! Though I had to admit he brought up a good point... But I must have, too, because he didn't say anything. He only stared at me, before suddenly cracking out into a smirk that looked more like a hungry grin. It didn't take me long to realize we were nose to nose. I could see every tooth in his mouth.
"Some recklessness has got its purpose," he said, stuffing my words back in my mouth, and I stared at him.
I went back to scrubbing. He slowly sank into the bath water as he got used to the temperature, and the water slowly began to turn the color of blood. The chunks of mud fell to the bottom, and the fire in the fireplace warmed the room despite the thunder and lightning that occasionally flashed outside of the window.
"You are an idiot," he said.
I didn't answer. I wasn't about to feed that fire. Especially since my fuel of choice would be kerosene. Go ahead, insult me to my face why don't you?
"But I guess sometimes we need idiots," he finished.
I looked up at him from my sulky scrubbing. He looked at me, and there was a strange look on his face, but again, dog face, impossible to read. Heck, even his human face is nigh impregnable.
"We heard yelling. Are you okay?" Lavi suddenly said.
We turned at the same instant to look at the intruder, and Lavi glanced back and forth between us. How he did this, I don't know. He doesn't really have eyes per se. It just felt like it. I'm going with my gut feeling here.
"Yeah. We're fine," I said as I looked at Kanda, his fur gleaming in the light of the fire like greased porcupine quills. Ew.
"Well... alright. Charles, Bookman, and I found a bedroom down the hall and to the left of that old music room we found earlier, and it's still got the bed in it, so we're going to hide out there for the night. We've got a fire going, so whenever you guys are ready we'll be there. Bookman'll brief you on everything when you're done," Lavi said. He gave us a weird look before hopping off.
"What was that about?" Kanda muttered under his breath.
He probably thought I couldn't hear it, but I have 'mom' ears. I hear everything.
Well, everything but Akuma. I'm not sure why they don't register on my 'hearing range'. Probably because I don't want to hear them.
"Beats me," I answered back.
His ears pressed flat against his head in apprehension, and he sank lower into the bath water. It was seriously disgusting now. If someone asked me to drink it for a million bucks, I'd give him a walking stick and tell him to take a hike.
"Now, let me get the back of your neck and your ears, and you can get out. This is nasty," I said, and Kanda narrowed his eyes at me.
He let out a low whine, and I gave him my best motherly stare. Here we go again.
"You get to master me in training. I get to master you in bath time. It's only fair," I reasoned, and he made to get out of the tub.
I grabbed him by the shoulders, trying to haul him back into the tub, but he was stronger than I was. Mother instinct could only go so far. Still, I was pretty heavy, and I managed to hang on to him.
"Oh no you don't-"
"Let go of me!"
"Look, it'll take just a second!"
"I didn't even need a bath to begin with!"
Somehow, with all the jostling and my attempts with the spare bucket of water to dump water over his head, I ended up falling face first into the water. My legs kicked in the air for a second before landing on something wet and furry as my head hit the front of the tub with a thump. I saw stars, along with chunks of mud and bubbles, before I spluttered to the surface.
"Now look what you did!" I whined.
"If you hadn't fought with me in the first place, you wouldn't have ended up wet," Kanda stated, his face completely dead pan.
"If you hadn't fought with me in the first place, we both could've been dry by now," I sighed.
I tried to stand up, and instead I stepped on something vaguely tail like. As if to confirm my suspicions, Kanda's yelp was so high pitched I thought the dogs outside were going to yowl. My feet left the bottom of the tub as the tail was ripped from under me. I only had a few seconds to think this through, though, because I fell straight on top of someone who smelled like wet dog.
Besides, if his tail had been ripped from under me, shouldn't I have gone backwards, not forwards? I felt like I was living in a bad romance novel. I would know. I've read plenty of them.
And then my day just had to keep getting better.
As if to add insult to injury, Charles decided it would be a good time to check up on us and make sure we hadn't killed each other.
Well, we definitely didn't look like we were trying to kill each other.
We practically tore the tub in half as we flew to opposite ends while Charles stared open-mouthed.
"This can all be easily explained, and it's definitely not what you think," I said.
Kanda sure wasn't going to say anything.
Charles left with a wave of both his hands and some French mutterings. I could swear I heard something about 'beast' and 'unnatural unions'. I didn't want to think too hard about that. I dragged a hand over my face. I wondered what other sort of atrocities I was going to commit in the next twenty four hours.
I heard the slosh of water, and Kanda started to shake. It was worse than being in a hurricane. The fire popped and hissed as water hit the logs, and I tried to get out of the tub, with some success.
"Don't. Touch. Me," Kanda commanded, and I was only too happy to oblige.
Bath time was over.
"All in all, the house is mostly deserted. I have seen some rather odd markings on some of the walls, especially in the ballroom, but other than that, I have nothing else to report. In the morning we shall investigate further, and if we do not find anything, we'll go back into town for supplies," Bookman said, his gravelly voice made even rougher by the fact his voice sounded as if it were being created using cogs and ticks.
I played with a piece of wood, considering the plethora of information I'd just had crammed into my brain. I leaned against the wall of the bedroom with an exasperated sigh.
The house was abandoned sometime in the mid 1800s, mostly due to the owner dying of a broken heart. It sounded like something out of a poorly written dime novel, except this story didn't have a happy ending. The rich owner had the manse built for his wife and daughter, both who loved mystical, fairy tale type things. That explained why this manse was so fantastical (I'd probably seen sixteen unicorn friezes, along with a couple of phoenixes, and some picturesque music rooms with sadly rotting instruments who'd probably like to be played, except they'd fall to pieces if they were). At some point, both daughter and mother died, leaving the owner to his house full of memories that he'd built specifically for them. He fell asleep one night, and he never woke up again. Talk about a quitter.
"Oh! Before I forget...We also found zis," Charles said, handing over an ornate book. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Kanda about to grab for it with one massive paw. Oh no, he isn't!
I made sure to take it before the dog-man could put a hand out, and the two of us shared a heated glare. I wanted to be sure that we had no more awkward moments. That included, but was not limited to, accidental hand touching, stereotypical swooning and falling at the first sight of danger, eating off the same plate on accident (especially if it has anything to do with spaghetti), accidentally stripping in front of each other, and any possible one night stands; though I honestly doubted that there was any compulsion to do so considering my state of anger and his state of physical being.
Weirder things have happened, though, so I wasn't going to exclude it.
"What's so significant about it?" I asked.
"It's untouched. Everything else in the house is falling apart, but the book was in pretty good shape. It's been handled recently. We've also been interrogating the other members of the house," Lavi said, crossing his candle-holder arms.
I glanced at him with an incredulous stare, along with Kanda and Charles. Lavi shifted uncomfortably.
"I can still talk to the other household objects! They're... a little nuts after so many years of inactivity and loneliness, but they're still mostly sane. Don't judge me! I have a gift, obviously," Lavi explained, and I decided not to press the issue.
Bookman didn't have the same bent.
"You didn't tell me you could talk to other objects," Bookman growled, and Lavi tried to shrink, despite the fact he's metal and a little less malleable than he normally would've been.
Meanwhile, I started inspecting the book I'd just been handed. Huh, well what do you know? It had a lock on it.
"Well, I didn't know if it was relevant or not," Lavi whined.
"Of course it's relevant, you idiot!" ]
"I'm sorry, but he's got a point," I muttered to Lavi as he tried to escape his older compatriot's wrath.
I winced as I heard the whine of wood screeching on metal. I sighed, shaking my head at their shenanigans. Kanda grunted as he made himself at home on the old, threadbare mattress sitting on a slump of metal rods that I think was supposed to be a bed frame.
This lock looked an awful lot like Violet's diary lock.
I was a bad big sister. I frequently invaded her privacy. Of course, it almost saved her life once, but I still remember feeling massively guilty. That didn't stop me from peeking every now and again at her private thoughts. Once she called me a... to put it lightly, a female dog covered in excrement that couldn't have relations if I'd been covered in pheromones. I'd just ratted her out to Mom, and Mom actually disciplined her for once.
"Just... just hang on a moment! Let me tell you what they said!" Lavi protested, using me as a human shield where I sat by the fireplace, drying myself after my impromptu bath. I raised my arms trying to look for his little candle holder body, but he'd already zipped around to one of my legs. Bookman jumped and landed right on my leg.
"Ow! Careful!" I said before something shiny caught my eye. I frowned as I looked at the source of the shininess, a flap on the underside of the book I was examining.
"Well, what did zey say?" Charles asked, his tone sweetly curious in that country French sort of way.
I could tell from his accent that he wasn't from Paris. He sounded a little like he was from Avignon or thereabouts.
"They said that there's a woman that wanders the house sometimes, and they're all terrified of her. Some of them said that one time she was slow, but she's not who she used to be. I don't know, it was all a little convoluted," Lavi said. He sat on my ankle, resting from his racing bout with Bookman.
"Not exactly a lead of any sort," Bookman grumbled deep.
I started working the shiny thing, whatever it was, out from the flap, and a small key landed in my hand. What sort of person hides the key to their diary in their diary...?
"Que c'est? Miz Mag, you have found somezing," Charles stated.
I frowned, fitting the key to the lock. Sure enough, it was a perfect match. For such an ornate book, you'd think someone would keep this hidden away somewhere. It had real gold filigree and leather engraving, the whole shebang.
"You got it, I found something. My nosiness is coming in handy," I muttered, turning the key.
It clicked ominously. I felt like this was going to be momentous. Any moment, there were going to be fireworks and an angel's choir.
"Well, open it!" Lavi ordered, urging me on.
By now, they'd all gathered around with the exception of Kanda, who'd opted to lay there and open a single eye. I took a deep breath, and I opened it.
No angel's choir. No fireworks. No white light. There was just the scrawl of a kid's handwriting on the parchment cover.
Eliza Orwall
"... I was kind of expecting something a little more... I don't know, expensive?" Lavi commented, staring at the page.
Charles' blonde eyebrows knit together as he looked down at the page. " Zis does not seem right. Why would such a beautifully bound book be used for somezing so trite?" Charles asked himself, fingering his chin.
There was a crack of thunder and all of us jumped a little. The fire bent and wavered next to us, throwing all of our faces into stark relief.
"I think it is time to go to bed. I'll keep the first watch," Bookman said.
"Convenient, considering you're a clock," Lavi added, and he was suddenly clocked by a flying pebble. \
I rolled my eyes as I picked up his dramatically moaning and inert form. "Come on. We're going to sleep," I sighed, gesturing for Charles to follow.
I set the book down on an end table across the room, and Lavi's candles flickered, a reaction I'd come to equate with inquisitiveness or apprehension. It was comforting to know that Lavi still had body language, no matter what form, or else I'd never know what's real and what's not.
"Wait... Mag, where will you sleep? Charles is taking the curtains, which I'm not sleeping on considering they're probably full of mites -"
"Zere are not mites! I have checked and double checked!"
"-and I don't think you want to sleep next to Kanda...unless you do, of course," Lavi said, tacking on the last part quickly.
I narrowed my eyes at him, lifting him to my eye level. "Are you implying something?" I asked.
Lavi shrugged noncommittally.
"Hey. I notice things. It's my job. And you two have been... tense since the Himalayas," Lavi said.
Tense was an awfully good word. It just wasn't in the right context. I almost cringed thinking about his meaning. I put him on the end table.
"Trust me. The only thing happening between us is a distinct feeling of hostility and hairballs. Most dogs don't like baths, and most guys don't like baths either, no offense. He's not happy with me," I muttered. "As per usual."
I flipped through the book nonchalantly, trying to keep my mind off Kanda's bad mood. It seemed like no matter what I did, he was unhappy. I honestly shouldn't mind, but I honestly tried to comply with his wishes, going so far as to call the nasty hairball 'shifu' and teaching him how to do laundry. Granted, the former action was due to a bet, but nevertheless I was patient and he now knew his whites from his brights.
"Magnolia, are you okay?" Lavi asked quietly, almost inaudibly.
"Yeah, I'm... I'm frustrated, that's all," I answered truthfully, rubbing my eyes.
A lot had gone on since we'd left the two old witches and their hideous couples' retreat, and I was still reeling from my brother's near miss. Kanda wasn't helping matters, and I felt like I should be over all this by now. I was an Exorcist, for Pete's sake! We don't have time for... for angry coworkers and injured family, and bad dreams, and-and-and inadequacy! We had an entire world to save!
"Maggie, you're breaking the table."
I let go of my white-knuckled grip on the edges of the end table.
"Sorry," I sighed.
I rubbed my wrists, where both discs shimmered in Lavi's candle light. They hadn't even been named yet. So far as we knew, they had no abilities apart from their activation. Leave it to me to completely nullify all potential in my weapon.
"Don't let Kanda get under your skin. He doesn't mean it. That's just how he is," Lavi assured me. [split off Maggies thoughts and shifted it down]
I glanced at him and shrugged.
"I know him better than most people, and he really does care, just... it's buried deep under a really huge Freudian complex. I'd tell you if I could, but that's his business. I just want you to know you're a lot better than you think you are. As Confucius says, it doesn't matter how slow you go, as long as you don't stop," Lavi encouraged, and I smiled a little.
"And don't get shot."
"That's always a good rule of thumb, no matter who says it."
I woke up to the sound of thunder. My heart raced in my chest as I wheezed in and out, and I coughed as dust filled my lungs. I waved away the cloud that had been kicked up, my hacks reverberating through the large room. Charles was still sleeping, arms around the book he'd found. He'd pored over it until the small hours of the morning, decoding the old French that was scrawled on the inside in dripping ink pen. I caught my breath as I rolled off the pile of old clothes I'd made into a bed. Lavi was taking watch this time, from what I could tell of his still silhouette next to the bedroom door. Bookman had somehow got himself on the fireplace mantle. Kanda was still asleep on the old bed he'd claimed.
That just left me, awake and feeling like I'd had someone throttle me in my dreams. For all I knew, that's exactly what happened.
I decided a walk would clear my head. I could hardly think straight. Actually, I think my thoughts were out on a vacation in Tahiti while I was left here with an empty skull. In my haste to get out of that room, which was quickly growing stuffy, I nearly tripped over Lavi.
"Whoa! Wait a minute, what? Where did... why aren't you a... aaaaaah... asleep?" Lavi stuttered and yawned.
I stared at him with a horrified expression. "You fell asleep on watch?!" I hissed.
"Hey, hey, hey, no one's missing right? No one's been killed or maimed or had a bowel movement, so no harm, no foul. Just... just keep quiet, okay? I didn't know I needed sleep either," Lavi confessed, waving his candlestick hands at me.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose.
"Oh, come on, you can't tell me you haven't fallen asleep on watch either," he argued.
"I've never taken watch."
"...Touche."
With that exchange over, I sighed and stated, "I'm going for a walk. If I don't come back in ten minutes, I probably got snuffed."
"W-wait, aren't you going to take-?!"
"The team will hardly suffer if I end up eaten by the boogeyman. Besides, I don't want to wake anyone up," I sighed.
I picked up a candle from the mantle, careful not to wake up Bookman. He snoozed comically, snoring a little with a grind of gears and the slow whir of a clock hand. His pendulum swung at a steady rate, almost like a heartbeat, and I decided not to expand on that thought. It's a little creepy thinking about being able to see someone's inner workings, especially if they're analogous to body parts.
"Light this for me. I'm not a complete idiot. I don't want to go without a light," I asked Lavi, and he reluctantly let me use one of his candles to light my own.
Light flowed over my dusty nightgown and feet, showing just how disgusting they were. I almost shivered in horror. Only Exorcist missions could get me this filthy of my own will. I was taking a three hour scrub the minute we got back to civilization.
"Mag..."
I looked back at Lavi. I'd only walked a few paces into the dark of the hall. He looked oddly lonely in his single sphere of light.
"Yeah?"
"Don't let the boogeyman get you."
"I think I can manage that."
I could feel his eyes boring into my back the entire way down the hall. It's weird how someone can lack eyes and still give that same effect.
I began walking down the hallway with a little trepidation in my step, but as my eyes began to adjust I started to feel more comfortable. I was familiar with the layout of the house by now, though I did almost fall into a few holes.
Somehow I made my way to a huge room that I figured must be a ballroom from the fancy floor and the amount of chairs just thrown everywhere. Lightning flashed, illuminating the room for a few moments through the massive windows. It was freezing in here - the windows were broken, so the cold wind blew in like it was invited to a party. My dress swirled around me, and I rubbed my arms as gooseflesh popped up like mushrooms after rain. After being in that muggy bedroom, it was refreshing.
I stared at the floor for a little while, trying to clear my mind. My feet moved slowly as I started following the pattern on the floor, a natural thing to do when my mind was busy. My entire family had this predilection towards stepping patterns while the brain was off doing its own thing. After a while I noticed that I was doing simple dance steps, bringing on an entirely new flurry of memories.
"I thought you said you wanted to be a princess?"
"I do wanna be a pwinceth. But pwincetheths need front teef."
Ugh. I forgot about how bad my lisp was when I was seven. I still can't believe I wanted to be a princess.
"No they don't. You can be a princess without front teeth. But do you know what you do need?"
"What?! But Rusthy told me I had to have front teef! What do I need to be a pwinceth? Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
"You need dancing feet."
Liar. If that's what it took to be a princess, I feel sorry for anybody with royal blood. It had to be hereditary.
"But... I dunno how to dance. Does this mean I can't be a pwinceth?"
"No, not yet. But I can teach you how to dance."
"Really?! Wait... does that mean you're a pwinceth, Uncle Mickey?"
"What?! No, no, no, just because you dance doesn't mean you're a princess, haha! Look, it's easy."
Yet another lie. Dancing was harder than the five kilometer run Kanda forced me through. I at least know where my feet go.
"Wha... this isn't easy! This is really hard! Mickey, I'm never going to be a pwinceth."
"Sure you will, Maggy-pie. You just gotta keep trying. You'll get it. You'll be the best princess the world's ever seen."
Liar liar, pants on fire.
I stopped on the third step, finding myself choked up. I just woke up one day, and he was gone. The closest thing to a father I'd ever known- just out the door. He didn't leave a letter, didn't give any warning, didn't even tell us goodbye. My mother lied to us about that, too, said 'he'd be back in the next few months', 'you know how it is with him', 'he's off to another job in the mountains', 'he'll bring something back for you and your sisters and brothers because that's how Uncle Mickey is...'
He never did come back. I should've known better than to hope, but I'm stupid that way. I really did think he might be it, the one who'd be there forever and ever. It was a good thing he didn't promise that to us either, or that'd just be another lie to add to the list. I wiped a budding tear from my eye, knowing it was stupid to cry over someone who was long gone. There was no use to practically filling a river. Once my waterworks started, there was no stopping it.
A shadow suddenly played over my feet, and I forgot about my myriad of issues.
In a flash and a yelp, I activated my weapon and backed up towards the window. Cat-eyed reflections shone ominously before Kanda stood on his hind legs, a height of nearly seven feet tall. He dwarfed me, and I felt a thrill of fear, still jittery. The light from my candle played over his fur and shadowed his eyes, leaving two shiny discs.
"Put it down already. What, you think I'd eat you? You're mostly fat anyways," Kanda growled as he wandered next to me and sat back on his haunches.
For some reason, the insult put me at ease, and I put the disc back around my wrist, reassuringly feeling the bands of metal tighten.
"Don't do that," I demanded.
"Or what? You'll smack me with your purse?" Kanda shot back.
Normally, I would've been mad, but the quip seemed to cement me to the present.
"Nightmare," Kanda muttered, a statement, not a question.
"Yeah," I admitted, rubbing my arms.
The draft was no longer refreshing. Now, it was just cold. The wind and rain continued to lash the window, and the darkness seemed impenetrable. Lightning flashed, and the forest outside lit up as if God had flipped the switch on the sun for a moment. Reflective eyes watched from outside for all of a split second, and I swallowed audibly.
"Don't worry. I'll handle them if they come in," Kanda said serenely, and I stared at him.
"Why aren't you asleep?" I asked.
It was a better question than 'why are you awake' considering I'd literally never seen him sleep. At least, not that I could rightly remember. The Himalayas didn't count, considering that was more like becoming unconscious rather than willingly going to sleep.
"Sometimes it's better not to sleep," Kanda answered cryptically, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
He couldn't give me a straight answer. It must not be in his programming. Still, I could understand his reasoning. We stood there for a few minutes, each of us minding our own business as the storm continued to rage outside.
"Do you ever sleep?" I asked, the quiet becoming awkward.
He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and I knew the answer - or, rather, the implication.
"Of course," I sighed.
The wind howled, and the dogs outside howled along with it. The hair on my arms rose at attention as if they were ready to just get up and leave. I couldn't blame them, because I was about to do that myself.
Kanda suddenly joined them, a bloodcurdling howl making my blood feel like frozen cottage cheese in my veins.
He stopped, and I stared at him open-mouthed and incredulous. There was more dog in him than I thought. He noticed my fishy-fear look, and he actually looked sheepish.
"Sorry. Instinct," he only answered.
I shook my head and sat there with him.
"So... this doesn't bother you?" I asked, gesturing to the tail and the fur and the out-of-proportion limbs.
He shifted his shoulders a little, and a sick cracking noise made me wince. Dear lord, did he have firecrackers under all that fur?
"Not much," he admitted.
I was abruptly struck with a thought, and I tangled my fingers together in an effort to keep myself from sating my curiosity. Still, I owned a dog, so I was pretty knowledgeable about all of their involuntary ticks, which made me wonder...
I couldn't help myself. I surreptitiously tried to scratch behind his ears. He looked at me funny, pulling his ears back and growling a second before I started going at it.
The effect was instantaneous. He was on the ground, grumbling happily as I continued scratching with both hands. His back leg kicked, and he offered up the rest of his neck.
"I am going to kill you... after you're done... Go left. Up. Right... right there..."
"...See, I could definitely get used to this."
A/N: Another day, another destiny. I've had this chapter finished, finally!
And I've got the BIGGEST thank you to give. My dear karina001 betaed this entire honking thing for me, and I am tinkled so pink, Patrick Star is jealous. She has helped me so much with the style, the flow, and the grammatical side of this story, and for that I tip my hat off with a massive THANK YOU. I don't know what I'd do without you.
Well, besides write very poorly written fanfiction.
As well, thank you to the anonymous reviewer who left me that nice note! It got me started right back on the story again! Sometimes, reviews can be the tipping point to push a story back to life.
And so, I give you this latest chapter. God bless you all, and happy reading!
