"Laura…"
Her voice was soft and velvet-like, it reminded Laura of when she was little and she would fall asleep in the car and her mother would gently call her name until she showed even the slightest sign of waking up. Except now, Laura stayed still, hoping the voice would continue to call to her. She liked the way her name sounded rolling off her tongue, it sounded like home and she hadn't had a lot of that feeling recently with everything going on between her and her brother, resulting in everything that was going on with her and her father.
"Laura."
The voice whispered again. This time there was pressure resting on her thigh, but she still didn't want to move. Maybe if she stayed like this, she would continue to say her name.
"Laura."
This time the voice was closer, the pressure on her thigh increasing. She could feel hot breaths on her neck and ear. The corner of her mouth twitched up as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and her nose filled with the aroma of something sweet, something chocolatey…
"Laura, I can see you smiling, I know you're awake, now come on, wakey, wakey, eggs n'...whatever, I don't have bacon. I made you hot chocolate, though."
Laura slowly forces one of her eyes open, but quickly regrets it and closes it with a groan when she's met with the sun's rays in her face. She covers her face with her arm. Her body slowly wakes up, the smell of fresh hot chocolate with a slight hint of cinnamon, hitting her nose. Her joints scream as she regains consciousness and the events of the following night come flooding back. Her back aches and her butt is numb, but her thigh is on fire where Carmilla still has her hand. Laura's eyebrows come together at the discomfort flowing through her body.
"We fell asleep on the floor again, if we keep doing this, we're going to need new hips by the time we're 30."
Laura slowly cracks her eyelids open, her vision coming into focus on Carmilla's face in front of hers. She's smiling and holding out a red mug that has cat pawprints all over it and says 'Crazy Cat Lady' in big black letters, it's filled to the brim with steaming hot chocolate. Laura smiles and Carmilla stands up, extending her hand out for Laura to take. Laura grips Carmilla's hand and Carmilla's grip tightens as she lifts Laura from her spot against the wall before handing her the hot chocolate.
"Morning."
Carmilla whispers, smiling. Laura yawns and takes a sip of the hot drink in her hand.
"Mmmm, morning."
Carmilla laughs. Laura's 'morning' sounds more like "mernin'" and her eyes are half closed. Laura yawns again and stretches her free arm over her head, her back popping along her spine. She watches Carmilla over the top of her cup.
"Hey."
Carmilla's voice is low as her face drops and she suddenly finds great interest in her feet on the cold floor.
"Hey, what?"
Laura asks, reaching up to place her hand on Carmilla's cheek, clearly noticing her discomfort. Carmilla leans into her touch before placing her hand over Laura's and bringing it to her lips, kissing Laura's palm.
"Thanks for last night...all of it."
Carmilla whispers as she looks up at Laura, she's giving her a small smile, causing Carmilla to smile back immediately. Laura nods and wraps her arms around Carmilla's neck, mug still in hand, bringing them closer.
"We don't have to talk about it."
Laura whispers, their faces almost touching. Carmilla's eyes close at the warmth flowing through her body at their close proximity to one another. She leans forward pressing her forehead to Laura's, a small smile playing on her lips and rests her hands on Laura's hips, drawing small circles into her skin with her thumbs.
"Thank you."
It comes out softer than a whisper, Carmilla's eyebrows coming together in the middle. Carmilla knows Laura hears it because she feels her lips on her cheek a second later. Laura gives Carmilla a quick squeeze before removing her arms from around Carmilla's neck and wrapping her hands around the mug in her hands, bringing it up to her lips and taking a small sip, hiding her smile behind the lip as she takes a small step back. Her face heats up.
"This is really good, like amazingly good. Have you always made it this good?"
Carmilla raises an eyebrow at Laura and smiles, genuinely smiles, at how fast Laura can manage to talk sometimes and how little it takes for her to become flustered. She shakes her head at her and pulls Laura back to her, this time she wraps her arms around Laura's shoulders and buries her face in Laura's hair. This was nice. Laura wasn't running off anywhere, she didn't seem to be in a hurry, she seemed content and that made Carmilla content and at ease. She didn't want this moment to end, Laura in her arms, it was nice, it was more than nice, it was exactly what she needed at the moment. Until that moment ended. Carmilla groaned in frustration as a light knock sounded at her door. Laura turns her head and presses a soft kiss to Carmilla's lips.
"I can get it if you don't want to deal with company right now."
Carmilla laughs softly, but starts towards the door.
"I never want to deal with company, cupcake."
Laura follows Carmilla to the door, sipping her hot chocolate, with a small smile on her face at the use of the nickname. She was happy right then. Her usual weekend plans the last thing on her mind in that moment.
Carmilla opens the door while running a hand through her tangled curls, but they get caught and Carmilla's hand freezes immediately, her shoulders tensing. Laura cranes her neck around Carmilla's body to see who is standing outside in the hallway. She catches a glimpse of short, styled, dark brown hair and that was it before Carmilla went to slam the door in his face. His hand shot out and caught the door just before it reached the door frame.
"Fuck off, William."
Carmilla growls, mocking her mother's tone when she says his name, standing her ground, but she makes no effort to stop him anymore.
"Relax, I'm just here to get my stuff since you haven't thrown it on the curb yet."
Will sounds defeated and sad as he pushes the door open more and takes a step over the threshold and into the apartment. Carmilla takes a step to the side, blocking Will from going any further and the look in her eyes makes Laura's eyebrows shoot up and panic fill her chest. It was the same look she gave her mother the night before. She places her hot chocolate on the table to her left, in the kitchen, and stands in front of Carmilla. She places her hands on Carmilla's stomach, trying to calm her down and keep her from hitting anyone or anything.
"Hey, hey, Carm. Why don't we just go for a walk or something while he gets his stuff out and then when we get back I can make us some lunch and we can stay in? I won't make you watch the stupid rom-coms I like, we can watch whatever you want and we can eat cookies and popcorn and-"
Laura takes a breath and carefully watches Carmilla's face, her features soften as their eyes meet and Laura takes that as her cue to grab Carmilla's hand in hers. She drags her to the kitchen table, grabbing her jacket from the kitchen chair and then she heads to the closet where Carmilla's jacket and the rest of her clothes are. She grabs a pair of Carmilla's sweats and Carmilla's pants from the night before, along with her jacket and she leads Carmilla out into the hallway where Will is waiting, his arms wrapped around his chest, standing awkwardly to the side. Carmilla glares at him before Laura pulls hers arm, causing her to stumble forward and further down the hall. Carmilla's stature is still as Laura pulls her into the stairwell. She can feel the anger building inside her, but it stops in her stomach when Laura stops suddenly on the landing and turns around to face her, dropping the pile of clothes into a corner. She begins to run her thumb over Carmilla's white knuckles as she rubs her free hand up and down Carmilla's arm. Laura looks up at Carmilla's face. Her eyes are shut, eyebrows pulled together, and she's trying to calm herself down by breathing deeply through her nose.
"Relax."
Laura whispers, reaching up to run her thumb along Carmilla's jaw. Carmilla reaches up and gently takes Laura's wrist, bringing back down between them. She forces her eyes open and looks down at Laura's confused face, interlocking their fingers, she gives Laura's hand a squeeze before letting go completely and turning to pick up the clothes Laura had grabbed for her. Laura goes to grab Carmilla's hand, but Carmilla shakes her off and heads down the stairs.
"I'll meet you out front, Laura."
Carmilla sighs, running a hand through her hair. Laura is left frozen on the landing.
"Okaaay...yeah I'll be right down, don't wait up."
Laura says sarcastically to an empty stairwell, picking up the sweats she grabbed from Carmilla's. She slips them on over Carmilla's shorts and grabs her jacket before heading down the three flights of stairs and out into the lobby where she waits.
Five minutes pass by and no sign of Carmilla. Laura begins to pace the length of the lobby. Five more minutes, still no sign of her. Laura starts checking her phone every 30 seconds, for what, she doesn't know, Carmilla doesn't have her new number and she can read the time on the clock behind the front desk. Ten minutes. Laura turns to head back towards the stairs to see if Carmilla might have went back to her apartment.
"You're wearing a path in the hardwood, cutie."
Laura whips her head around, almost losing her balance in the process.
"It's been 20 minutes. What were you- Have you been- Were you crying?"
Laura's face drops as Carmilla approaches her, Laura's eyes searching her face.
"No. Let's go, I believe you promised me a walk?"
Carmilla grabs Laura's hand and leads them towards the front door.
"Your eyes are red."
Laura tries to get a better look at Carmilla's face, but Carmilla is practically dragging her out of the building and across the street towards the park. It was late enough that they missed the morning rush of people trying to get to work and the streets and sidewalks were calm.
"Allergies."
Laura rolls her eyes.
"It's cold."
Carmilla shrugs.
"I'm allergic to lying, betraying, assholes. They're out year-round."
Laura doesn't say anything at first, she wraps her arms around Carmilla's waist. Carmilla lifts up her arm and drapes it over Laura's shoulders.
"Touché."
Laura whispers. Carmilla looks down at the small girl tucked into her side, a small smirk on her lips. She pushes the thoughts from earlier to the back of her mind and decides to mess with Laura. That always made her feel better.
"How're your feet, princess?"
Laura looks up at Carmilla, confused.
"My feet? They're fi-" Laura looks down at hers and Carmilla's feet. "Shit."
Laura frowns. Carmilla laughs, hugging Laura closer to her before placing a kiss to the top of her head.
"If we die from hypothermia before we get back, I blame you for not grabbing our shoes before you dragged me out here."
Carmilla mumbles into Laura's hair. Laura playfully smacks Carmilla in the stomach.
"Thanks for pointing it out, now they're cold."
Laura whines. Carmilla shakes her head, smiling, and leads Laura to a bench on the side of the paved trail they were walking down.
"Nice socks, by the way."
Laura takes a seat on the bench and pulls her feet up underneath her to hide the purple polka dot socks from Carmilla, a small smile hidden behind her scowl.
"Shut up."
Carmilla laughs, taking the spot next to Laura and mirroring her position. Laura scoots closer to Carmilla, placing her head on her shoulder and looping her around around Carmilla's while they watch the squirrels run up and down the scattered trees in front of them.
"I feel like we're two old ladies."
Carmilla smiles.
"Nah, we didn't bring anything to feed the pigeons with so it doesn't count."
Laura giggles and reaches her hand into her jacket pocket. She pulls out a package and places it in Carmilla's lap. Carmilla looks down at the small bag of cookies and shakes her head before grabbing one and placing it in her mouth.
"Wow, thanks, I think I just aged 50 years."
Laura nudges Carmilla in the shoulder and grabs a cookie for herself.
"You don't look a day over 20."
Carmilla smiles, glancing down at Laura.
"Ah, the glory years."
Laura's watching the leaves whirl by in front of them on the pavement, a smile on her face. Carmilla watches her for a minute before the smile, that had creeped its way into her features, falls from her face and she doesn't want to ruin this moment, but she needs to know the answer to the questions that have been rattling around in her brain since the moment Laura left the studio the previous weekend after what she called a date.
"Laura…"
Laura doesn't take her eyes off the ground in front of her.
"Yeah?"
Carmilla swallows hard and squeezes her fist inside her jacket pocket, her heart racing in her chest.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
Laura looks up at Carmilla through her eyelashes. Carmilla is still looking down at her, but when their eyes meet, Carmilla's heart jumps and she panics.
"N-nevermind, it's nothing."
Carmilla shakes her head and clears her throat, looking out at the trees. Laura let's go of Carmilla's arm and turns so she's sitting with her back against the bench's armrest. Carmilla's side goes cold where Laura had just been.
"No, you can't do that. What's wrong?"
Carmilla quickly shoves a cookie in her mouth.
"Sorry, it's rude to talk with your mouth full."
She mumbles around the cookie. Laura tilts her head to the side and gives her a look.
"Carm…"
"Laura."
Laura gives her another look. Carmilla rolls her eyes and chews quickly before swallowing and wiping the crumbs from the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Fine."
"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"
Carmilla nods her head, her palms getting sweaty.
"Okay, well, the other night...or morning, I guess...when you left…" Carmilla looks over at Laura. She has her full attention. Shit. "...and the time before, when Will…"
Laura grins.
"If you keep this speed up we might actually age 50 years."
Carmilla let's out a nervous laugh.
"Stop, this is serious."
Laura tries to hide how much she's loving seeing Carmilla nervous. It doesn't happen very often and it's adorable.
"Okay, I'm listening, we can age 50 years on this bench and get hypothermia, take your time."
Carmilla rolls her eyes.
"Nevermind."
"Oooh, come on, I'm sorry. I'm listening, really."
Laura reaches over the space between them and takes Carmilla's hand in hers, mindlessly drawing circles on the back of her hand. Carmilla concentrates on the patterns Laura draws in her skin finding the courage she needs to just spit out what's on her mind.
"What are we?"
She whispers. Laura freezes for a second before clearing her throat and continuing to draw circles over Carmilla's pale skin, her eyebrows drawn together.
"That's not what I was expecting, but I feel like you already know the answer to that. Carm, I told you I wasn't ready for anything serious, relationship wise. Although, what we're doing might be considered 'serious'...I'm not seeing or talking to anyone else, if that's what you're getting at. I don't think I could."
Laura shrugs, whispering the last part. Carmilla looks up and meets Laura's gaze. Anything playful that was there before, is gone. Carmilla nods her head and before she has time to hold her tongue, another questions slips out, catching them both by surprise.
"Where did you go?"
Laura knew what she was talking about without her needing to elaborate. She was hoping Carmilla wouldn't bring it up, thinking she had work or something, but of course she would. She had skipped out on her time with Carmilla the past couple of times they had been together. She couldn't tell Carmilla about where she went, but she couldn't lie either. They were trying to be truthful with each other ever since their big fallout. This was a secret only three other people knew about and she was trying to better herself, for her family, her friends, Carmilla. It was going to be hard for her to stop, but that's why she got a new phone and number and cut ties with her source so quickly. She was a go big or go home kind of person and this move was big for her.
Laura looks back down at their hands in her lap and squirms under Carmilla's gaze. She knows Carmilla's probably thinking the worst possible scenario out in her head so she gives her the best thing she can. Hope and a promise.
"Carm...I can't talk about that right now, but it's probably not at all what you're thinking in your head and it has to do with why I got a new phone and changed my number and I need you to not worry about it because I know you worry about a lot of things that you shouldn't. I just need you to know that it's fine, I don't plan on leaving like that ever again and I will tell you, I promise, just not right now."
Laura takes a deep breath and looks up at Carmilla's face, her expression is blank, but she nods.
"Okay."
"Okay? That's it? Okay?"
Carmilla shrugs.
"Yeah, okay. I mean, I trust that you'll tell me when you're ready and, yes, I'm curious and a little hurt, slightly jealous, and I'm kinda hungry, that's beside the point, but I know we both have to build our trust in each other back up and I can wait. Also, please tell me you didn't get another flip phone."
Carmilla smirks. Laura shoves her shoulder, a surprised look on her face.
"No, it's not a flip phone, you ass. I haven't had a flip phone since-"
"Since I got you an Iphone for graduation and you wouldn't stop using emojis for everything for like six months. I regretted it immediately."
Laura shoves Carmilla in the shoulder again, laughing, glad that she was taking this so well, which was somewhat surprising, but Laura would take what she could get.
"You liar, you loved it."
Carmilla smiles.
"Love is a very strong word and I don't think it applies to that situation. From my point of view, anyway."
"Asshole."
Laura tries to act mad, but she can't stop smiling.
"That's my middle name, cupcake."
Laura rolls her eyes and shakes her head.
"So, lunch-"
Laura's cut off by a rustling sound coming from the bushes behind the bench where her and Carmilla are sitting. She lunges at Carmilla, knocking the bag of cookies onto the ground as she latches onto her arm. Carmilla laughs.
"Laura, it's probably a bird, relax-"
The bushes rustle again.
"That is not a bird, Carm. I'm ready to go, come on."
Carmilla laughs again as Laura stands up on the bench, grabbing Carmilla's hand.
"Calm down, you're fine."
"It sounds huge! This is not funny, Carmilla!"
Carmilla can't stop laughing. She covers her mouth with her free hand and tries to pull Laura down, but her eyes are glued to the bushes and she clearly has no intention of moving until whatever is in there leaves first.
"Want me to look for you, then we can go eat?"
"No, Carm, what if it has rabies or something? Oh my god, what if it's a rabid raccoon?!"
Carmilla rolls her eyes and goes to stand up with Laura to pull apart the leaves, but stops when she notices movement under the bench and smiles.
"Hey, Laura, look, it's your rabid raccoon."
Carmilla points under the bench and laughs. She watches Laura glance down, between the slats in the bench seat and her face lights up. Carmilla can practically see the wheels spinning in Laura's head.
"Carm, pleeeeease!"
Laura whines, her face contorting into a pout as she struggles to keep the small bundles of fur in her arms, while trying to feed them the remnants from the package of cookies.
"Laura, my landlord would kick me out in a second if he had any idea. There is a strict 'No Pets' policy and I kind of like my place."
Carmilla shrugs. Laura dramatically juts out her lower lip as far as it would go and gives Carmilla her best puppy dog eyes. Carmilla rolls her eyes, trying her hardest not to give in, but she kind of feels like she already has.
"Laura, I can't. Those things might have fleas and worms and who knows what else. Besides they're probably someone's pets, we can't just take them."
Carmilla hopes that Laura gives up at trying to convince her because she's running out of reasons they shouldn't keep them when one of the small balls of fur jumps into her lap and begins to lick her face excitedly. A smile breaks out across her face, but she quickly hands the pup back to Laura, replacing the smile with a stern look. Laura laughs when Carmilla starts to wipe her face off with the sleeve of her jacket.
"Awh, Finn likes you!-"
"You've already named them?! Laura-"
Carmilla looks at Laura with a soft expression when she says her name. She feels bad, but there's no way in hell she could keep two puppies in her apartment without anyone finding out and Laura's dorm wasn't really an option.
"-Besides, the fact that they might have fleas and worms is the reason we can just take them, they were born out here, they don't have a home."
Laura's face falls at her realization.
"Carm, they're homeless! Oh my God, Carm, they're orphans!"
Carmilla groans as she watches Laura look at the puppies in her lap with such sadness in her eyes. When Laura looks back up at Carmilla, she looks as if she might cry. Carmilla drags her hand down her face and sighs in defeat.
"You're killing me, Hollis."
Carmilla stands up.
"Come on."
She holds out her hand to Laura. Laura looks up and her eyes are full of tears.
"What? We can't just lea-"
"Give me Finn."
Laura's face lights up at the realization of what Carmilla had just said. She stands quickly, struggling to hold the two wriggling pups in her arms while she practically bounces in excitement. Carmilla grabs the light brown colored puppy from Laura's hands and she tucks him in her jacket, against her chest.
"This things paws are as big as my hand, Laura." Carmilla looks down at Finn and he's already snuggling into her. She sighs and whispers, "What did I just get myself into?"
Laura squeals with excitement and wraps an arm around Carmilla's neck forcing her to lean down and into Laura's kiss which she complied, happily, a smile forming on her face before Laura pulls back, her face bright red.
"Uh, sorry, I didn't- Um- Sorry."
Carmilla just laughs, a smirk playing on her lips, and watches Laura busy herself with placing the puppy in her arms securely in her jacket with her.
"Don't be, cupcake."
A small smile forms on Laura's face.
"What'd you name that one?"
Laura's smile grows as she answers, looking down at the black mass of fur in her arms.
"Doc."
Carmilla laughs, grabbing Laura's hand in hers, Laura mimicking the way Carmilla holds the pup beneath her jacket as to not draw too much attention to the small lump against her chest.
"Of course, you did. Didn't think you were still into that sorta thing."
"Duh. Dr. Who is amazing and he has a bow tie."
Laura points to the tuft of white fur on the puppy's chest in the shape of a bow. Carmilla laughs and leads them to the parking lot on the side of the building rather than walking straight through the front lobby with two protruding bulges in their coats that clearly didn't belong there. Laura's face was full of worry as they stepped into the building and up the back staircase. The staircase was on the opposite end of the building from where Carmilla's apartment was, but it was more likely that they'd get the puppies to her room safely this way, rather than taking the main stairs in the lobby that was just a few doors down from Carmilla's room. Both Finn and Doc had fallen asleep on their way to the third floor and Carmilla was thankful for that. They arrived at Carmilla's apartment without any complications and Laura lets out a long breath. Carmilla reaches up behind the light attached to the wall outside her door to grab her spare key, looking back at Laura. She smiles up at Carmilla and Carmilla smiles back, shaking her head.
Once inside the apartment, Laura carefully walks over to the bed and lies down on the mattress on her back with Doc still in her coat. Carmilla locks the door behind her and follows Laura, taking off her jacket and letting it fall to the floor in the kitchen. She crawls into bed beside Laura, Finn fast asleep in her arms. She places him in the crook of Laura's arm and props herself up on her elbow watching Laura take in the sight before her, her face full of light and an aura around her that just made you want to smile. Carmilla feels a smile creep onto her lips as she rests her head on the pillow beneath her head. Laura looks over at Carmilla.
"We have puppies!"
She half whispers, half yells, trying to keep her excitement to a minimum as to not wake the sleeping bundles of joy in her arms. Carmilla laughs quietly and nods her head.
"We have puppies."
Laura wakes up before Carmilla, which isn't unusual, but Laura didn't remember falling asleep in the first place. Laura rolls over in bed and has to place her hand over her mouth so she doesn't wake Carmilla up with the giggle that escapes her lips. Carmilla is dead asleep. Her head resting on her pillow, mouth slightly open. Finn is fast asleep, perched on top of her head, lying on her mess of curls laid out over her pillow, his feet spread out on either side of her face, Doc is sleeping on her chest, his head nudged underneath her chin. They were precious. Laura quickly grabs her phone from her back pocket and takes the opportunity to get a quick picture before the three of them woke up. She carefully rolls off the bed and tiptoes into the kitchen, picking up Carmilla's coat on her way and placing it on the back of a chair before she starts rummaging through Carmilla's cabinets in order to find something for lunch. She's met with nothing but empty shelves with crumbs that couldn't even feed a mouse and coffee grounds and filters.
"How the hell does she live like this."
Laura mumbles to herself. She opens the fridge and finds a half empty carton of soy milk and take out containers haphazardly thrown onto the shelves next to several bottles of water. Laura shakes her head and moves to the kitchen table where she finds a pen and an old envelope that had been ripped open and thrown onto the table, forgotten under the mess of bills and junkmail and homework papers and textbooks. Laura writes Carmilla a quick note saying she's picking up some groceries for lunch and that she'll be back in a bit. Walking into the hall, Laura calls Perry to come pick her up, considering she only has her bike, which isn't at Carmilla's, and to help with the task.
Carmilla wakes up to sharp teeth nibbling on her ear. She only knows it's not Laura because she can feel whiskers on her cheek and she's pretty sure Laura's teeth don't have sharp points at the ends.
"Fuck off, you little bugger."
She gently swats at the mass of fur on her shoulder and rolls over, onto another mass of fur. She groans and opens her eyes, pulling the pup from her shoulder to lay pressed into her side next to Doc who was now awake and trotting to the edge of the bed. Carmilla quickly grabs Doc and pulls him to her, next to Finn.
"Oh, no you don't."
She buries her face in her pillow and tries to fall back asleep when she realizes she's the only one in her bed. She lifts her head off the pillow and she looks around the empty apartment, confused.
"Laura?"
No answer. She sets the pups on the floor and rolls off the bed before wandering into the bathroom. No Laura. She walks into the kitchen where she finds an open envelope taped to the fridge. In scratchy handwriting, it reads:
Carm,
I went to pick up some things to make lunch, I don't know how you survive on soy milk, coffee and take out. I'll be back soon with something more substantial and we can eat and play with the puppies!
-Laura
Laura signed the note with her name and a heart. Carmilla rolls her eyes and smiles, turning around to walk back to her bed, where she plops down onto her stomach and hugs her pillow close to her before closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep.
It's around two in the afternoon when Laura and Perry return to Carmilla's apartment, arms filled with paper bags filled with food and other essentials Carmilla indeed did not have. Laura opens the door with the spare key and Perry follows her in. They're met with a still sleeping Carmilla who only seemed to roll over onto her stomach, from the position in which Laura left her and two very much awake pups.
"Shit."
"Oh, dear."
Laura and Perry express in unison, the bags in their arms almost falling to the floor. Laura rushes over to the bar separating the kitchen from the living room and places the bags in her arms on the counter before turning back around and quickly grabbing Finn and Doc from the disaster on the floor in front of her. She winces, looking from the mess to Carmilla asleep in her bed. Laura hears Perry shuffle behind her, placing the bags on the counter next to Laura's.
"I don't know what to do."
Laura whispers, admittingly, to Perry, who is now beside her in the midst of the mess of fabric and foam on the floor.
"Judging by the smell, I'd suggest they get a bath before anything else."
Perry exclaims, in a high pitch voice, grabbing Finn from Laura's arm and holding him out in front of her, as far away from her body as possible, her nose scrunched up in disgust.
"Right, good idea."
Laura follows Perry to the bathroom where they place Finn and Doc in the tub and Laura rushes to where she put the grocery bags, silently thanking herself that she thought to buy dog shampoo, along with puppy food, a pair of leashes and dog collars with tags that read 'Doc' and 'Finn', and some chew toys, while she was out. She grabs the dog shampoo from the bag and quietly runs back to the bathroom where Perry is struggling to keep the pups in the tub. Laura gives Perry a small apologetic smile and takes over while Perry heads out to the living room and begins cleaning up the mess on the floor.
By the time Laura is finished giving the two dogs a bath, she is soaking wet and the floor is covered in puddles. She wraps each pup in a towel from the hall closet and places them in the bed with Carmilla, who STILL has not moved. Laura throws the toys she got for them in the bed and they seem distracted enough for her to help Perry. Perry's on her hands and knees on the living room floor, scrubbing Carmilla's light grey carpet that is placed under the coffee table and couch.
"She's going to kill me."
Laura whispers to Perry, picking up foam from the couch and stuffing from the pillows off the floor and shoving it in the garbage bag that Perry had already halfway full. They manage to pick up the mess and clean any stains out of the carpet before Carmilla wakes up. Laura ties the bag and places it by the door, turning back around to what was left of the couch, finding that Carmilla was, of course, still asleep and the pups had fallen asleep too. She just sighs and runs a hand through her hair before following Perry into the kitchen to start putting away the groceries and maybe make them some dinner, since they sort of missed lunch. Laura sincerely apologizes to Perry and invites her to stay for dinner, but she insists that she go back to her place so she can make something for herself and Laf, who Laura invites over as well, but Perry politely refuses.
Carmilla doesn't wake up again until Laura is at her side with two steaming bowls of buttered rigatoni noodles topped with shredded parmesan cheese, a bit of salt, and little flakes of cilantro. She was quite proud of her dish and figured it was easy and fast enough to make that Carmilla could do it, which is why she had bought the ingredients in the first place.
"Carm."
She doesn't move.
"Carmilla, wake up."
At this she groans into her pillow, a muffled 'no' escaping her lips.
"But, I made dinner, come on."
Carmilla mumbles into her pillow again, but Laura doesn't quite catch what she says.
"What was that, sleeping beauty?"
Carmilla lifts her head slightly, turning to face Laura. She's smiling and it's too bright and happy for Carmilla so she groans and buries her face back in her pillow.
"Oh, come on, you haven't had anything to eat all day except stale cookies. Eat."
Laura shoves the bowl in Carmilla's face forcing her to either grab it or get a face full of buttery noodles. She grabs it. Laura smiles victoriously and climbs over Carmilla to get to the other side of the bed. Carmilla groans under her as she tries to maneuver herself so she didn't wake the puppies snuggling into Carmilla's side.
"Now, don't make me feed you."
"I'll just feed them to Dumb and Dumber over here."
Carmilla gestures to the puppies.
"Hey, I worked hard on this lovely home cooked meal! And their names are Finn and Doc."
Laura enunciates their names and points to the name tags hanging from the collars around their necks. Carmilla shakes her head, noticing the toys sprawled out across the comforter.
"You are too much sometimes, cupcake."
"Shut up and eat, cupcake."
Laura playfully nudges Carmilla's shoulder with hers, matching Carmilla's tone on the use of the nickname. Carmilla rolls over and sits up, scooting her back against the headboard and grabbing a few noodles with her fork before placing them in her mouth. She can't help the satisfactory moan that escapes her throat at the taste of the parmesan and butter that hits her tongue. Laura laughs on the bed beside her as she watches Carmilla.
"This is del-" Carmilla raises her head to look at Laura and practically chokes on her food at the sight before her. Laura's face goes red as Carmilla's eyes stay glued to the couch.
"Oh, right. Um...Dumb and Dumber ate your couch."